Why Me?
by Melanie-Says
Summary: Throughout all her years of living, she never would have thought that one day she would be supporting her family by playing the piano for a group of flirtatious boys in search of entertainment. She never would have imagined that even though she swore off their silly and childish schemes, she would eventually call one of them her best friend and someday, her first love.
1. Chapter 1

Why Me?

Chapter One

One may ask why Melanie was walking through the vast pink halls of Ouran Academy with a hole ripped right through her obnoxiously yellow dress and tear stains coating her cheeks despite the smile on her face. When it concerns an answer though, they would have to go back about one hour earlier to the exact same hallway where all you could hear is sobbing from one end to the other.

* * *

Another dreary day had passed in the spectacular Ouran Academy which meant another day that Melanie was slowly making her way through the deserted hallway towards the end of the building where the stairs were. As she blew her nose in the tissue she was holding, she used the golden sleeve of her dress to carefully wipe away at the tears flowing from her eyes. A pitiful laugh escaped her lips; she would have thought that after three weeks being here she would have already been able to stop crying everyday, but what could she say? She was an emotional person and couldn't get over things very easily, especially when those things meant that she had to move halfway across the world and couldn't see most of her family ever again.

But that's a story for another day, right?

As her heels clicked against the tile floor, her eyes caught a glance of a sign hanging above a door on the wall.

 _Music room number three?_

Wasn't that the room that contained whatever that club was called that all the girls loved? Melanie looked down at the watch that she kept on the underside of her wrist. It was a bit late for any club activities, but according to a few girls she was eavesdropping on last week, the guys in this club could make anybody smile.

 _Well,_ she thought, _it wouldn't hurt to try, I guess._

So she stopped in front of the large french doors and slowly opened one of them, peeking her head in bit by bit. It was completely quiet and as far as she could see, there was no one on the couches, sitting by the tables or even standing up which led her to almost retreat back into the hallway had it not been for the most glorious sight she had seen in the past month.

 _A beautiful grand piano, just sitting there waiting to get played._

Quickly, Melanie scanned the room again from one side to the other and then slowly opened the door, her heart skipping a beat when she heard it creaking as it opened a space wide enough for her to slip through and quietly close the door behind her. As lightly as she could, she took one step towards the piano, but was stopped in her tracks by a force against her. She looked back to see her flimsy dress caught in the door and yanked hard at it until it finally popped back out.

 _Maybe that was an omen that I should turn back now, s_ he thought, but with one quick glance at the piano, she had easily decided that she wasn't about to leave without at least _touching_ the beautiful instrument. So she took a step towards it, only to be irritated to hear the click of her heel hit the tiled floor again. In two quick motions, both of her shoes were off and she was prancing through the room with only her bare feet, not even making a sound as she finally sat down in the piano bench. Her hands lightly stroked the dark wood of the bench and then the ivory of the keys and softly she pushed down on an F sharp, letting the sound ring freely and beautifully through out the room. After the initial vibration ceased, Melanie let a smile cross her face as she tapped the key again, not even caring anymore if anyone heard, and soon enough she let her hands flow freely down the board. Her hands were making intricate melodies that ranged with high pitches to low and an entire two minutes dedicated to the slow, smooth bridge between the two main parts. As the last few seconds of the music approached though, her hands trailed up the keys to the highest A, letting the note linger in the air with its sweet sound before she closed her eyes and smiled happily, letting loose another deep breath and already noticing how much happier she felt.

"Wow, you're really good."

Immediately Melanie jumped in her seat, managing to hit her knee on the piano as she bit her tongue in an attempt not to curse in front of her mystery visitor.

As she slowly turned around, she saw the owner of the voice that had spoken. It was a tall guy, leaning against the wall with his shoulder and his bright auburn eyes locked on her. His hair was bright red and his body was lean, arms crossed across his chest. Melanie felt her face heat up in embarrassment seeing that she had been caught and without a second thought, she had already leaped out of the chair and was awkwardly standing by herself right next to the piano, scratching the side of her leg with her foot to try and help her calm down.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't think anybody was here-" She started stumbling over her words; she was more concerned with slowly inching towards the door so she could make a break for it rather than having to actually be face to face with someone that she could only assume was in the club that ran in that room

"It's fine, I was just coming back here because I had left one of my books but it turned out that I also got a bit of a show while I was up here." He replied, standing back up and making his way towards the girl. She was kind of short, or at least compared to him, so he made a note to bend down so they were closer to eye level rather than looking down on her. "So, why exactly are you here anyway?"

The girl in front of him awkwardly scratched the back of her neck and took a step to the left, inching towards the door. "Well, I just stumbled in here really and then when I saw the piano I got excited so I played it but I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to intrude!"

The guy shook his head, pulling one hand through his hair and then walking over to the piano himself, tapping on one of the keys that he had seen her press only a few minutes prior.

"I told you, it's fine. I think the only thing you should be worried about right now is that giant hole in your dress."

Melanie looked over at him with a confused face. _What did he mean by that?_

The guy made a twirling motion with his finger, so Melanie gave a quick twirl only to finally catch a glimpse of the hole he was talking about.

" _Oh shi-_ " Melanie mumbled in frustration, grabbing hold at the fabric and sticking her entire hand through it.

"That's no big deal, you can just go ahead and buy a new one." He said as he walked over and picked up the fabric himself, looking at the ripped edges and shaking his head in disappointment.

Melanie's face fell and all the emotions that had been ripping through her for the past few weeks all came back in an instant. She felt her eyes start to water again and soon enough, the tears spilled over onto her cheeks and she turned away from the boy in front of her in an attempt to hide the embarrassment she felt over it.

"Hey, what's your problem?" He asked, walking over and trying to get a good look at what she was doing but when he saw her damp sleeve after she had rubbed her eye, he immediately understood the situation at hand. " _Wait, are you crying?_ "

She shook her head furiously and tried her best to get it together but the tears kept coming and her eyes hurt from rubbing them. She eagerly sat on the ground and dug her head in between her knees to try and hide her face from him.

" _Why are you crying?_ " He asked, not a hint of sympathy in his voice. Somewhere inside of her, Melanie felt herself snap.

"You want to know _why_ I'm crying? It's because this has been the icing on the cake for all the _shit_ that's been happening to me lately! I could barely afford to buy this dress let alone a _new_ one!"

The guy looked at her bewildered, _perhaps she is another scholarship student like Haruhi?_

The girl crawled closer to the corner and resumed to wallowing in her own misery; she eerily reminded him of Tamaki, just sitting in a corner when life doesn't go their way and complaining about it to anyone who was willing to listen, even, in this case, a complete stranger.

Nevertheless, she looked pitiful to say the least, as would anyone who seemed similar to that blonde idiot, so he regrettably felt himself walking towards the corner that she inhabited. His brother had told him to reach out to more people, but at this point he didn't feel like this was really worth it even as his legs kept moving.

"Listen, you sound like the type of person that Tamaki _loves_ to help, so I could probably strike a deal with him so that you could play the piano here at the host club for pay, alright? You wouldn't even have to worry about how you would pay for the dress because I'm willing to bet that he would cover that too." He replied again, poking at the back of the girl sitting on the ground in front of him. Slowly, he saw her turn around and look up at him, tears finally stopping their assault on her face.

"Are you serious?"

"Serious as a heart attack."

Immediately a smile broke out on her face and she started to get back up off of the floor. With one last swipe of her sleeve, the remaining tears were wiped off of her face and she fixed the curls on top of her head so that they weren't blocking her eyes like the tended to do when she moved her head too quickly.

"So, I guess we could expect you back here right after school tomorrow for your first day?"

Melanie smiled up at him, examining his facial features at a closer distance than before. He was quite handsome, and it didn't do him justice if you were staring at him from the distance she was earlier.

"Of course, thank you for the opportunity..." She started, then quickly realized she had never learned the guy's name. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

The red head started fixing one of the button's on his blazer as he replied, "Hikaru Hitachiin."

Melanie felt herself get light headed. _Did she hear him right? Hitachiin?_

" _Hitachiin_?" Melanie asked again, all of a sudden feeling over whelmed with her new discovery. She used to wear Hitachiin brand all of the time and fly out to see the fashion shows with her mother when time permitted; somehow it had slipped her mind that the great Yuzuha Hitachiin had a son?

"Yea, but since you're acting like a commoner you probably don't understand why that's a big deal, huh?" Hikaru said, bending down and picking up her heels off of the floor.

"Hitachiin fashion, of course I know. I just didn't realize Yuzuha had a son?" Melanie replied, staring Hikaru right in the face again. The more that she looked at him, the more she saw it. He looked _exactly_ like his mother.

"Sons." Hikaru corrected, obviously slightly offended,"I have a twin."

Melanie reached for her shoes and thanked Hikaru when he gave them to her. So not only did she have one handsome son, she had _two_ that Melanie had completely forgotten about.

"Wow, I can't believe I didn't know tha- _Is it that late already?_ " Melanie freaked out, bending down quickly to put on her shoes, hoping with one foot towards the door again.

Hikaru looked at the quirky girl in front of him, she definitely had someplace to be it seemed.

"Yea, you may wanna get going before the cleaning lady comes, she's pretty mean about people being here when she is trying to clean." Hikaru told her, startled when all of a sudden the girl's head pops back up again and she has her hand reached out. He shook it, but just as she turned around to start walking away, a thought popped into his head.

"Hey, what's your name anyway?"

She stopped and turned back to him right as she put her small hand on the gold handle to open the door.

"Melanie Suzuki, and I'm looking forward to working with you, Hikaru." She smiled at him one last time before she slipped out of the door and down the hall.

A:N: OKIE DOKIE SO LEMME TELL Y'ALL SOMETHIN

THIS IS A REWRITE OF THE FIRST EVER STORY I WROTE ON HERE FROM WHEN I WAS BUT A WEE LIL TEENAGER

A DISGUSTINGLY HORRIBLE WEE LIL TEENAGER

SO AROUND THE TIME OF MY BIRTHDAY LAST YEAR, I LOOKED BACK ON THAT STORY AND REREAD IT AND QUITE FRANKLY WANTED TO CRY ABOUT HOW BAD IT WAS. IT'S PROBABLY JUST BECAUSE I'VE GROWN AS A WRITER SINCE THEN BUT LOOKING BACK ON IT MADE ME CRINGE SO HARD SINCE NONE OF IT MADE ANY DAMN SENSE. LIKE WHAT THE F CU K

Anywhosie, so I decided to rewrite it! With that rewrite came a lot of changes to the original storyline, more character and relationship development, plot hole fixes, hopefully a story with better flow and all that nice stuff that just makes up a readable and likeable fanfiction.

And oh yea, and maybe two already planned out sequel stories that I may or may not have already started writing too along with the 11 chapters that I already have written for this one lmaoooooooo

So I guess you could say it's been a busy year for the making of this story but honestly, I think it's going to be completely worth the nights I've stayed up on it and I'm super super excited about that!

Also, please ignore the horrible grammar I use in my authors notes, this is the same way I text ever since I got a tumblr when I was like 12 so there really is no turning back from what I have become at this point.

Anywhosie, I hope y'all love the story! The first few chapters are always a little bit slow but I promise it gets better, especially around chapter 4-5 so don't you guys worry.

(Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or any of it's characters. I'm broke af and just wishing for a second season is all.)


	2. Chapter 2

Why Me?

Chapter Two

The bell rang at the end of the day and the first thing Melanie noticed as she grabbed her stuff was the sudden appearance of two tall figures, one of which slammed his hand down on her desk and caused her to almost jump out of her skin.

"Melanie Suzuki, I assume?"

Melanie's head snapped up to look at which of the two figures was talking to her. It seemed that the one to the right who's hand wasn't currently on her desk had been the one to address her. She quickly examined their features, they were polar opposites when it came to looks, yet them together only seemed to make them both more handsome. The flocking looks they were receiving from the girls around them caused Melanie to put the pieces together: they must have been from the host club, just like Hikaru.

"Yes?"

The raven haired man in front of her pushed up his glasses, took a deep breath, and seemed like he was starting to speak right as the blonde to her left interrupted him without a single look of regret in his eye.

The dark haired one ceased to speak, but not without giving off vibes of annoyance.

"So _you_ are the new host club piano player, huh?" He chirped. His voice never stayed on the same frequency, it almost reminded Melanie of an excited school age child with the amount of cheerfulness it contained. She made eye contact with him and first noticed that his eyes were sparkling and energetic, a shade of bright blue that only seemed to fit his demeanor and child like enthusiasm. He seemed like the type of man to never be upset, always grinning from ear to ear and making sure everyone around him was too.

"Um, one of the Hitachiins said he would talk to his friend for me but he told me that I am going to start work today anyway so I guess you could say I am." Melanie answered hesitantly. The blonde one looked overly excited to the point that it kind of scared her, while the one with the glasses next to him rolled his eyes before writing something down in a notebook he was holding. He himself gave the impression of being laid back with his cool, calm demeanor, yet the constant eye rolling made her believe that there was more than meets the eye when it came to his attitude.

"I'm guessing that you mean Hikaru," The dark haired one replied, "seeing as he was the one to bring it to Tamaki's attention that you needed a job after all."

"Yea! That was him!"

"Well then, my darling," The blonde one started again, "let us get going so we can start your interview!"

The two men turned around and started walking away with Melanie left in their tracks. She was unsure of what to think of this sudden 'interview' but nevertheless grabbed her stuff and started to follow them, eventually catching up to their long strides halfway down the hall. Ouran was incredibly large, in her opinion it was much larger than it honestly needed to be, and despite the fact that after three weeks she thought she would have been able to find her way around, it certainly wasn't the case. She stayed close to her peers, yet gave them a respectful amount of space.

"So um, may I ask for your names?" Melanie questioned them.

"Kyoya Ootori." The dark haired one answered first, not stopping his descent down the hall until he felt the air hit his face from his friend turning around at such a remarkable speed.

The blonde one bent down to just above Melanie's height and took her hand, slowly bringing it up to his lips and allowing his lips to leave the slightest of kisses on the back of it, lingering for a few moments before his eyes trailed back up to meet Melanie's surprised, yet blushing face. She started to feel overwhelmed with the personalities she had met in only the past day, it was more than she had in the entire three weeks.

"And I, my princess, am none other than host club president Tamaki Suoh." He beamed, regaining his full height once again and wrapping an arm around Melanie, forcing her to walk along side him, "Yes, I know Hikaru probably spoke about me when you met him yesterday, about how kind and generous and handsome I am," He almost sang. The looks that Melanie and Tamaki were getting were making her more than uncomfortable and she almost wished that he would stop despite him being her boss. The last thing she wanted to do was end up on the bad side of all these rich business mogul's over privileged kids, so she tried her best to distance herself slightly as larger quantities of girls started shooting daggers at her.

"Thank you very much for this opportunity, Tamaki." Melanie thanked him, bowing in front of him once he stopped to open the doors to the club room. She heard his shoes hit the tile beneath them as he turned to face her one more time and return the gesture.

"Believe me, it's my pleasure, Ms. Suzuki." He replied before taking his first step through the door.

Melanie stood and watched him for a minute. Tamaki arrived at the area in the left side of the room where a small brunette boy was sitting quietly, reading a book on physics and sipping on his tea. He spoke a few words to the boy, which caused him to look up at him, giving a quiet reply. Melanie thought nothing of it, assuming that he was just another club member, until Tamaki's face turned a bright shade of red. He picked the boy up and started spinning him chaotically, not even bothering to be careful around the tea set on the table as he continued his wild display of affection, even calling the poor guy his 'daughter'. She continued to watch the commotion unfold until she felt a presence come up behind her.

"You know, Tamaki may be an idiot, but he's probably the nicest and most trust worthy person you'll ever meet, at least at this school."

Melanie looked up to her classmate, he had a hard, emotionless expression on his face, but for a second Melanie thought that she saw a smile creep up on the corner of his lips. Kyoya was that type of uncharacteristically handsome that she only thought existed in young adult books. He had dark, jet black hair with bland, gray eyes to match hiding behind a pair of glasses that somehow worked for him. He didn't seem like the type of guy to be caught up in a club like this, more like one who was serious about gaining control of his family business by any means necessary, but perhaps his seriousness was what made him seem so unbelievably attractive to all the girls? Maybe after a few more weeks of getting to know him, she would really start to see the reason why he was even there.

"And what about you? You seem pretty close to Tamaki, so is it safe to assume that your personalities are similar?" Melanie replied, watching her classmates face closely as his expression didn't change, but for the slightest of moments she thought she saw the corner of his mouth pull into a devilish smirk. Perhaps she did understand now why girls fawned over him.

"Ha, the only way Kyoya would ever be nice to you is if it were beneficial to him." She suddenly heard two people say in unison. As Melanie turned around and looked for the owners of the two voices, she saw Hikaru and his twin slowly gliding up the hallway, both had extremely bored expressions on their faces. Of all the hosts she had met so far, the twins seemed to intrigue her most. Just like everyone else in the club, she didn't know very much about them, but they seemed familiar in a sense, perhaps she had met them before?

"Well that's quite rude, don't you think?" Melanie asked them. Immediately the twins burst out laughing, causing Melanie's face to scrunch up in annoyance. What was so funny?

"That's something stupid that Tamaki would say." The one on the right said, putting one of his elbows on top of Melanie's head and then leaning on it, much to her irritation.

"He's always so optimistic and happy, I don't understand him if I'm being completely honest." The other one admitted.

"They aren't wrong, you know." Kyoya continued, pushing up his glasses one more time, "I like to think that I need to save my good behavior for manners of only the utmost importance, something that Tamaki doesn't feel the need to do."

"Aw, Kyo-chan! Don't be so mean to Tama-chan!"

Melanie quickly turned around, causing one of the twins (she assumed it was Hikaru) to almost fall over. She tried her best to hide a sly smile as she watched him crash into the wall from the corner of her eye, but somehow she felt it was justified. _Very_ justified.

Skipping down the hall towards them was what looked like an elementary schooler with a high school uniform holding a pastel pink stuffed bunny, while behind him was a stoic black haired man holding not just one, but two brief cases. The child like teen skipped all the way up to about a foot in front of Melanie, and then stopped and grinned directly at her. He was overwhelmingly adorable, the type of child that always gave you a reason to laugh and smile. He allowed his floppy dirty blonde hair to momentarily get in his face as he looked up and gave Melanie the sweetest smile he could muster.

"And who are you? A new customer?" He asked, his voice matching his child-like persona. Melanie felt the urge to hug the lovable boy, but used all of her will power not to.

"This is Melanie Suzuki, she's more than likely going to be working at the host club for a while." Kyoya answered. "Melanie, this is Hunny."

"Nice to meet you, Hunny." Melanie greeted, holding out her hand for him to shake. He looked down at her hand for a minute, causing Melanie to wonder if something was on it that she didn't see or if he could tell that she was nervous for her first day, but then he practically jumped into her arms, even wrapping his legs around Melanie's to gain a tighter grip.

"Melanie is such a cute name, Mel-chan! We don't see foreign names around her often so that's really cool!"

Melanie felt herself feeling over whelmed with how cute this boy was and how his voice sounded like verbal candy, and immediately squeezed him in a hug, even asking herself how he could be so cute. She honestly felt like she was holding a six year old in her arms, and she was more than okay with that.

She looked back and saw that the man carrying the two briefcases had finally caught up with Hunny. He looked down on them and smiled, holding out his hand for Melanie to take, which she gladly accepted.

"And this is Mori, Hunny's cousin."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mori." Melanie tried to greet, but she was a bit exhausted from having Hunny practically squeeze the life out of her.

"Mitsukuni." Mori said quietly. Immediately the tiny man child detached himself from Melanie and had taken a sweet from his pocket and plopped it in his mouth.

"I hope we become great friends, Mel-chan!" Hunny giggled before walking around her and into the club room with Mori obediently in tow.

Melanie felt her stomach drop as the puzzle pieces in her head failed to connect. All these different personalities in one club, yet it's supposedly the most successful one in the entire school?

"You're probably wondering how all of these different personalities manage to make up such a successful club," Kyoya pondered out loud, leaving Melanie shell shocked. _Can he read minds too?_

"You see, the different personalities is what makes the host club so inviting, there is more than one type of guy for more than one type of girl. For example, Tamaki over there is the princely type, he acts like the guy of your dreams for only a small fee." Kyoya explained. Melanie looked back into the club room and saw that Tamaki was sitting in the corner of the room sobbing loudly while the short guy from earlier was being forced to eat cake with Hunny, multiple slices piling up on his tiny plate.

"I'm bored, let's go mess with milord, Kaoru." Hikaru stated, walking past Melanie into the room with his twin in tow.

 _Hikaru and Kaoru, huh? Their names somehow seem to fit them perfectly._

Melanie looked over all the ruckus again to the side of the room where the piano stood in all of its glistening glory. The same impulse that over came her yesterday afternoon was starting to get to her again, but this time she didn't even dare act upon it.

"Before you decide to go touch the piano again, I will have to remind you that it is a _very_ expensive instrument and if you even do as much as _scratch_ it, it will come out of your pay check." Kyoya finished, starting his own descent into the club room and ignoring the obnoxious remarks concerning whatever Tamaki's problem was.

Melanie gulped, somehow she felt that this wasn't even close to worth it and that she should turn back while she had still had the chance, but quickly enough, she also entered the club room and set her stuff down next to the piano. Once again, she felt a wave of relief wash over her as she took a moment to just take in the pristine condition it was in and the crystal clear sound as she hit one of the keys. She was so lost in thought about it that she almost missed the person standing next to her.

"So your name is Melanie, huh?"

She turned to her side to see the boy that Hunny was eating cake with earlier leaning against the piano and looking at her. Melanie couldn't quite put her finger on it, but his face seemed vaguely feminine, not to mention his height, or lack of really.

"Yes, Melanie Suzuki,"

"Are you really a scholarship student?" He asked her again, to which she nodded slowly in response. Automatically, his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"That's amazing! My name is Haruhi Fujioka and I'm the only other honor student in the entire school." He replied. _Haruhi? Isn't that kind of a girlish name for a guy?_

"It's so nice to see someone in this school is in the same boat I'm in," Melanie admitted, shifting over on the piano bench so Haruhi could sit by her, which he gladly did.

"Yea, and believe me, after putting up with these guys for too long, you'll be happy that you didn't have to complain about rich people to more rich people like I did." He laughed.

"Hey!"

"That's mean, Haruhi!"

"Well it's true!" Haruhi shouted back at the twins, who were sulking on the coach right behind them.

Melanie looked bewildered at the weird group of people she had accidentally associated herself with. They had a set of devilish twins, a cake loving fiend, an over dramatic president with his serious side kick that wears glasses, the suspiciously girly commoner, and the silent one who obeys his cousin's every command.

 _There is no way all of these people are actually friends._

"Hey, Melanie, why don't you play a song for us?" She heard her name being called. She turned to her side and standing there was one of the twins, probably Hikaru, leaning down in order to push one of the keys on the piano.

"Maybe instead of an interview you could just play us something!" Tamaki agreed, taking slow, long strides from his area across the room to the rose pink coach the twins had previously inhabited.

Melanie felt overwhelmed again; suddenly the familiar coziness she used to have from being around her favorite instrument made her feel nauseous, but she couldn't refuse so what was the point?

"Um, sure, I can definitely do that..." She muttered, placing both of her hands on the keys and slowly looking at them in dread. _But what am I supposed to play now that I know everyone is watching me?_

"I know that we're notorious for making our way into other people's business, but it's time to open so get set up." Kyoya interrupted from the other side of the room. "Through the course of the day, we can judge her music." Hikaru and Kaoru shared loud groans as the both of them stuck their hands in their pockets and started their descent back to their station. Tamaki huffed slightly, a slight pout on his face as he did the same.

Melanie exhaled deeply, finally feeling her muscles relax and the building cramp in her hands go away after keeping that steady position over the keys for the song that she wasn't mentally ready to play.

" _Tamaki!_ "

Melanie turned around to see the giant wave of girls enter through the doors. _Was this the moment that she was supposed to start playing?_

"Welcome."

The host club's unusual unison of the word swept over the crowd, leaving a few of them in tears, but all of them hungry for more.

 _What exactly is this club?_

"My dear princess! The hours I was away from you were purely dreadful; all I could do is drink my sweet ambrosia and look out to the moon as I yearned to be with you again," Tamaki swooned over a girl, the undeniably high pitched squeals coming from the group around them that hadn't left to their preferred host was deafening and Melanie felt uncomfortable just watching it.

"You know Tamaki, I've still haven't gotten the chance to drink the coffee..." The same girl mumbled, turning to the side in a failed attempt to hide her blush. Soon enough, she was in Tamaki's arms and his face got close enough to her lips that she could almost taste him.

"I'll let you taste it, but only if you drink it from _my mouth._ "

Melanie felt her face heating up and her hand covered her mouth in shock; the girls had now gone into a frenzy, swarming onto Tamaki while the one he was holding had actually fainted into his arms.

" _What the...?_ " She was left speechless as she watched the crowd move onto four separate sofas in the main area.

"Tamaki has the most requests in the entire club, which I bet isn't surprising to you after you'd just witnessed that."

Hikaru stood a few feet away from Melanie as she inch by inch made his way to the piano bench where she was sitting. He looked over in the same direction as her and allowed a low chuckle to escape his lips as her face continued to show signs of horror and confusion.

"Is _that_ what you do in this club? Seduce your guests?" Melanie asked the copper headed twin next to her, turning her head and looking at the side of his face. His eyes were so bright, almost golden like liquid honey and his skin seemed almost like it was glowing from it's lack of flaws. This all seemed to make sense when she thought about it. Beautiful guys seducing teenage girls 'for a small fee' as Kyoya had put; this wasn't a club, it was a successful business.

 _A successful business._

It clicked in Melanie's head as to why Kyoya was in it now.

"Well, that's more of Tamaki's thing, but that's more or less the job description." Hikaru answered, turning his face and making eye contact with Melanie, who immediately averted hers out of embarrassment. "Speaking of job description, I still haven't heard you play yet."

"I'm just a little nervous is all." Melanie admitted, turning back around and facing the keys one again.

"I don't know why you would be, you sounded great yesterday." Hikaru countered, also turning around and watching Melanie's hands to see what she would do next.

"And I thank you for that, but I didn't think anyone was with me at the time."

"So just imagine that everyone is gone; it's just you again and there is no pressure at all," Hikaru replied, looking back at Kyoya doing his finances on his laptop as usual. "well, except for the fact that you get paid for work and Kyoya will chew you up and spit you out otherwise."

Melanie nodded her head, took a deep breath and slowly rose her fingers up and let them hover over the keys again. She gently touched the b flat key, letting the sound ring out for a moment before she started playing with both hands. The song was relatively quiet for the most part, but the vibe the host club had given her at this point made her feel like it still somehow fit perfectly.

"Chopin, huh?" Hikaru asked when she was halfway through the song, just watching her left hand moving up the keys while her right hand was trilling faster than he could even imagine. "Nocturne in E Flat Major is actually one of Tamaki's favorites too. Funny how you decided to play it."

"Is that so?" Melanie questioned, looking over at Tamaki sitting with his customers. He somehow did strike her as the type to like classical music, perhaps even play it himself.

"Oh, I forgot that I had a question," Hikaru started again, Melanie bopped her head along to the song but gave him a 'uh huh' in reply. "Why were you crying when you came into the music room yesterday?"

The question caught her so off guard she felt her hand slip and play a wrong note, but she kept going when she saw that no one had noticed.

"How did you know I was crying?"

"I was walking up the hallway opposite from you and saw you go in after you seemed to have calmed yourself down." Hikaru answered, absentmindedly looking into space, not quite sure what he was looking at but he was bored so it didn't matter.

Melanie in the meanwhile felt her eyes roll. She was terrible at trying to calm herself down and yesterday was no exception.

"I was just having a hard time."

"But why?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I do."

"Well I'm not telling you."

"That's no fair!" Hikaru whined, a pout appearing on his face and a single finger poking into Melanie's left dimple in an attempt to gain her full attention.

"Can you please go away?" Melanie more commanded than asked. Hikaru was visibly offended by her request but nevertheless, he got up and walked back towards his brother who was calmly chatting with their guests. "Doesn't he have some nerve to ask me something like that?" She mumbled to herself, finishing the song on a high note and hearing some clapping coming over from Hunny and Mori's area.

"That was _great,_ Mel-chan!" Hunny cheered, "Wasn't that great guys?"

His guests were both nodding profusely, also complimenting Melanie's playing. She looked up at Mori to see that even he had a smile on his face; it was nice to see that someone appreciated her playing at least.

" _Oh Melanie! That was so wonderful!_ "

Within a minute, Melanie felt herself being pulled into a hug by none other than the world's biggest womanizer himself. Whether it was the fact that she reminded him of Haruhi or just because this was in his nature, Melanie started to sense a pattern with the type of people that Tamaki picked up and started to spin around.

"Tamaki, that's really sweet but..." Melanie barely got out, feeling all of the air escape her lungs as she was actually picked up out of the seat and being twirled around in the air. She caught a slight glimpse of the girls that Tamaki had left on the coach and all Melanie could see was spite in their eyes. _Great, not even the first month of school and she already had enemies._

" _I didn't think you were actually good Melanie! You made me so proud today, I can't believe you're so good!_ " He exclaimed loudly. What a backhanded compliment.

"I...can't...breathe..." She stuttered after every turn Tamaki made; she was actually starting to feel sick and the first day of work was not the appropriate place to show it. It took a full two seconds, but Tamaki finally stopped spinning and placed Melanie back down onto the ground, where she stumbled for a few seconds and sat back down while Tamaki started his loud apologizing.

"You know Kaoru, our new piano player is actually pretty rude." Hikaru said aloud as he saw their last appointment leave the room. They had time in between so he figured that this was the time for him to start complaining.

"That's ironic considering that you're usually the asshole." Kaoru replied, picking up the dishes the guests used to eat cake and putting it on the dish cart next to them.

" _Very funny._ " Hikaru hissed at his twin, rolling his eyes when he saw that Kaoru was grinning from ear to ear.

"So, can you explain to me what Melanie did to hurt your feelings so bad?" Kaoru asked, putting out two new plates and two slices of cake on them.

"I only asked her why she was crying yesterday and she wouldn't explain why." Hikaru whined, throwing his feet up on the couch while he laid there and stared up at the ceiling.

"That's a pretty personal question Hikaru, no wonder she didn't want to answer you."

"She was being rude! And after I got her a _job_ too!"

"No, you're just being stupid. I'm gonna go talk to her and I bet she's not nearly as 'rude' as you think." Kaoru announced, turning his back on his twin and walking towards the piano where Melanie was sipping from the glass of water that Tamaki had gotten her. He was about four steps away from tapping her shoulder when he felt Hikaru's presence behind him.

"So you decided to join me?"

" _Oh shut up._ "

Kaoru smirked widely at his brother before he reached his hand up and tapped Melanie's shoulder twice. She quickly turned around and stared up at him, her big brown eyes making contact with his.

"So, your playing was really pretty earlier."

"Thank you, it's one of my personal favorites."

"I can tell, you played it with so much emotion I felt it myself." Kaoru replied, smiling charmingly at the girl in front of him while she raised her eyebrows at his comment.

"You remind me of Tamaki. That sounds like something he would say." She continued, sipping more of her water.

Kaoru looked back at his twin, who was insistingly shaking his head with a frown on his face. Kaoru ignored him and turned his attention back to Melanie.

"Well, you're right about that. Let me cut to the chase then; my dumb twin over here is under the impression that you don't want to share your personal life with him which is fine but we'd still like to know a few things to get to know you better, is that alright?" Kaoru asked. Melanie thought about it for a moment, but eventually nodded her head and sipped her water again.

"Well lets start off easy. What's your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Favorite school subject?"

"Music."

"I figured. Any pets?"

"A cat."

"How many siblings do you have?"

"Three. Two twin sisters and a brother."

"And do they live with you?"

"No."

Kaoru looked at his twin next to him. Hikaru was fascinated with the quick exchange of information that his twin had managed to get and was eagerly awaiting more.

"See Hikaru? That's how you get to know someone without being creepy. Ask her something."

Hikaru pondered for a moment, but then looked at the short girl in front of him as she waited expectantly for him to ask her something.

"Are you a scholarship student?" He questioned her.

Melanie nodded her head twice, reached into her bag and pulled out a rich yellow paper with two solid creases in it and handed it to Hikaru.

"Is this your acceptance letter to Ouran?"

"Yep. Even says that I'm the fifth scholarship awarded since the program opened and why I was accepted." Melanie added, reaching over the paper and pointing towards the end of the letter where the number 5 was signed in bold pen at the bottom, right next to the familiar handwriting of the chairman saying ' _For exceptional execution in music performance._ '

"Ah, so Tamaki is also paying for your scholarship too, huh?" Kaoru wondered out loud, still reading the letter. Melanie's face in the meanwhile twisted in confusion, which only Hikaru saw when he looked back up and saw her face.

"Oh you didn't know? Tamaki's dad is the chairman of the school. The Suoh family started the scholarship program." Hikaru explained, pointing back towards Tamaki bossing around Haruhi while she made three separate pots of coffee.

Melanie felt her eyes go broad, today had already been a wild ride but that may have just been the icing on the cake for her.

"So another question: who do you live with?" Hikaru asked, handing Melanie her sheet back which she then slipped into her bag again.

"My mom."

"Why not your dad?"

"Because I don't like him or talk to him, not that I want to anyway."

"And why is that?"

"You're being nosy again, Hikaru." Kaoru warned, nudging over in Melanie's direction where she looked sad, almost angry.

"Whatever," Hikaru said, getting up and starting to stomp off in the direction of his area.

Kaoru turned his head away from his brother and gave a sympathetic bow to Melanie before walking off behind him. When he finally caught up, he placed a hand on Hikaru's shoulder.

"Are you angry?"

"I'm fine, let's just worry about what we're going to do at Haruhi's house next week."

* * *

A:N: Wow, this was a super long chapter so I apologize if it made you want to claw your eyes out. Most chapters aren't really this long.

Okay but now that introductions are done, the rest of the story can commence! (And it's an early update because I'm going to be gone for the weekend and don't know the next time I'll be able to update! I will definitely try to update once a week, if not more, on a regular basis.)

(Also, I currently don't have a beta reader and I'm not really the best with spelling so if anyone is interested please PM me! It would be even better if you would be open to ideas that I would like to add in, help me decide what sounds good and what is just really cheesy, you'll of course get credit at the end of every chapter.)


	3. Chapter 3

Why Me?

Chapter Three

Walking up to the front door of the shared apartment, Melanie was suspicious as to why it was so eerily quiet on the inside since her mother was supposed to be home. Melanie's mom was a bit... odd to say the least. She was always doing something in the house that caused Melanie to raise an eyebrow, like cooking weird foods, or redecorating a room in the middle of the night with excruciatingly loud music playing in the background. Melanie just figured that all the music was just a successful attempt to drown out the constant crying that both she and her mother did routinely, at the expense of the neighbors of course.

Melanie knocked once on the white door in front of her, waiting a few moments afterwards for any sign of movement in the house. When she received nothing in return, she sighed softly to herself. Her eyes casted a quick glance at the gilded sign attached to the mail box right next to the door's frame.

 _Suzuki_.

Never had there been a time in Melanie's life where she had actually heard someone refer to her mother, Misa Suzuki, by her maiden name. Of course, Melanie was used to it, considering the fact that this technically wasn't the first time her parents had broken up. For a brief period right before Melanie was born, a situation had arisen where her parents decided that they weren't compatible enough to raise their children together, so they simply split up for a few years. A few days after the divorce got finalized, March 16th to be exact, Melanie was born, leaving her with her mother's last name as opposed to the one shared by her father and her brother. The weird looks she received every time she had to explain that to someone at Ouran drove her up the wall, but she had been so mentally exhausted from the past month that she didn't even get the chance to blow up on anyone about it.

After she looked around for any sign of her mother nearby, Melanie checked the concrete ground underneath her feet and slowly sank down to meet it, letting her back lean against the door and her feet stretch out to barely take up half the width of the walkway. A few minutes passed and there was still no sign of her mother, but right as Melanie was about to give up and walk back to the school to work on some homework in the library, up the stairs came a familiar brunette with similar height issues.

"Haruhi? Is that you?" Melanie asked, raising an eyebrow as the boy looked up from the ground and nearly dropped his briefcase on the ground.

"Melanie? What are you doing here?" Haruhi questioned, taking short steps until he was able to crouch down right next to her. Melanie caught a whiff of the scent Haruhi brought with him and oddly enough, she could have sworn that the sweet smell of roses seemed really familiar, almost as if she had gotten the same perfume for her birthday.

"I live here." She answered, raising her hand and knocking on the door behind her. Haruhi's face remained shocked, not exactly sure of what to say to this new information, but surely enough he knew he had to say something.

"That's funny that I've never seen you before," Haruhi laughed a bit, standing back up to hold out his hand for Melanie to take, while he pulled her off the ground. "I actually live right next door."

Melanie released a sigh of relief at his words, someone trustworthy was within distance when she was at home without her mom, or rather when she was locked out of her home.

"Why are you sitting outside your door?" Haruhi questioned, looking over at their mailbox with the clearly printed name. He couldn't believe that he hadn't made the connection between the host club's newest piano player and the neighbors his dad had told him about just last month.

"My mom usually works during the night so I was expecting her to be here during the day to let me in, but I guess she went out and about, so I was just sitting here waiting for her to come home," Melanie explained. She reexamined Haruhi again and though he was nice, there was something definitely off about him. His voice was kind of high, almost as if he hadn't hit puberty yet, but of course there was also Hunny's case, so she couldn't exactly use that as a suitable reason. She looked at the host's hands and feet; both were about the same size as her own which along with the fact that Haruhi's body was slimmer and more frail looking than her's, gave Melanie a good idea of what was actually going on.

 _Was Haruhi a... girl?_

It sure would explain a lot, but Melanie simply shook her head. That's none of her business.

"...would you like to come over then?" Haruhi finished. Melanie snapped back into reality as she realized that she had actually ignored Haruhi during her minute of contemplating.

"Please and thank you." She replied, following the boy back to their apartment and entering behind them. His apartment was exactly identical to her's: two bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, a living area and a single bathroom, furniture small enough to accommodate the space, and family pictures hanging on the wall.

"Would you like some tea?" Haruhi asked, taking out a kettle from one of the cabinets to boil water in. She pulled out two cups before Melanie even got the chance to reply so she simply nodded her head 'yes' in response. When Haruhi handed her the cup, Melanie looked at it and laughed at the horribly drawn lion on the outside. It was probably a cup that Haruhi made when she was a child like so many other school kids did in elementary school. Melanie thought that it was especially cute how, in messy handwriting, it had 'I love mommy' written right next to it. She didn't see the connection between a lion and Haruhi's mom, but if this was made when Haruhi was little like she suspected, there really didn't need to be a reason.

"So I heard you mention your dad, but where is your mom?" Melanie questioned, taking a sip of the warm tea and feeling her entire body slowly heat up. Haruhi's body stiffened and immediately Melanie regretted asking him. She noticed Haruhi kind of zone out and was about to apologize when she watched him started to miss the cup as he poured the water all over his shirt.

"Damn it," He cursed under her breath, shrugging off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt, much to Melanie's disapproval. Though she had a theory about Haruhi's true self, if it proved to be false then everything about this would be insanely awkward.

"Wait, Haruhi, I can leave the room if you want to change-" Melanie started stuttering, her face getting a bit redder as she tried to avert her eyes.

"It's alright, I'm wearing an undershirt," Haruhi explained, giving Melanie the okay to look back at him. Melanie's face flushed a darker shade as she noticed that Haruhi was standing there in a tank top, and of course with her being as nosy as she was, she completely noticed that Haruhi was not lacking in areas where he should have been.

"Haruhi, are you... a girl?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," Haruhi answered, walking away towards the bathroom and putting the clothes on hangers to them to air dry. Melanie, in the meanwhile, was stuttering and confused at the situation she was being met with. Haruhi, even though a popular host, wasn't actually a guy at all, but instead a girl, just like her. The only two commoners at Ouran Academy were girls, and nobody knew the truth about one of them.

"Does the host club know this?" Melanie asked once she regained her voice. Haruhi chuckled a bit, pouring the remaining water into her cup and stirring it.

"Of course, that just didn't stop them from keeping me in their club." Haruhi confessed, turning around and walking into one of the rooms before she came back out, changed into a normal t-shirt. Melanie couldn't help but shake her head at this. It further proved her point that she thought this entire club was entirely ridiculous.

"I... just don't understand this at all," Melanie admitted, still looking over at Haruhi as she tried to take everything in.

"It's a long story, but I'll explain it to you if you're up for hearing it," Haruhi offered, starting her journey into the living room but was stopped halfway through when the doorbell rang. Melanie looked over the counter she was leaning against towards the doorway, sipping her tea once again.

Haruhi opened the door to reveal an entire group of familiar men standing there.

" _Haruhi!_ "

Melanie shot a confused look towards the doorway. It was after school and somehow Haruhi still couldn't get rid of the host club. If they annoyed her enough during the day, she couldn't even begin to image how much it killed Haruhi on the inside to see all six of them standing outside her door when she didn't actually have to see them. One by one, they walked through the doorway, all of them handing Haruhi some sort of cake in a box and giving her a slight greeting while seating themselves in her living room. Melanie furrowed her eyebrows as Tamaki brought up what he liked to call 'rule 1 of commoner living', but soon realized that it just meant everyone pulled in their legs to 'conserve space'.

"Hey,"

"Would you look at that,"

"Piano girl is here," The twins announced simultaneously. Melanie gave a slight wave to the club while Tamaki beckoned her to sit down with them which she accepted considering that she wasn't about to disobey her boss.

"I live next door and my mom wasn't there to let me in like usual, so Haruhi let me stay here with her while I wait," Melanie explained, much to the surprise of the host club.

"Now it won't be so hard to find your house when it's your turn to host our get-together," Kyoya said, writing the new information down in his notebook.

"Get-together?" Melanie mumbled to herself, only to have Hunny speak up from right beside her.

"Once a week, we gather at someone's house and just eat cake!" Hunny explained, digging into what, judging by the amount of plates already stacked up, seemed to be his fifth slice.

"Sounds fun," Melanie replied, watching as Hunny devoured another slice within a few seconds and then shoveled in another one.

An eerie silence overcame the room, Melanie just watched from the sidelines, sipping her tea and doing her best to not draw attention when Tamaki looked right at her and smiled.

 _So much for that._

"So, Melanie, we don't really know much about you," Tamaki started, "what do you want to be when you finish school?"

Melanie heard the twins groan to themselves and one of them even rolled his eyes while he mentioned how dumb Tamaki was, the only thing that kept her from going was Mori and Hunny's intense stares that immediately shut Hikaru and Kaoru up.

"I always wanted to teach piano," Melanie explained, "I had a really great teacher growing up and she gave me the ambition to try to my hardest."

"That's cute," Hikaru interrupted, half bored and half actually paying attention. He was playing with Melanie's cup by running his index finger around the rim and Melanie didn't have the heart to tell him to stop even though she wanted to drink.

"Hikaru, you don't have to talk if you don't want to," Haruhi scolded him, obviously annoyed at his lack of care. Tamaki scrunched his eyebrows together as he noticed Kaoru just twiddle his thumbs at the table, but then turned his attention back to Melanie.

"Well, I'm not sure if you already know this, but the host club does a bit of traveling on the weekends, Melanie." Kyoya said, flipping over a paper and circling a date before pushing the sheet in front of her. He circled a date a few months into the future along with an arrow pointing down to the description of it. Apparently they were going to host a trip to the beach and she was required to come as part of the club. "So, we advise you in advance that you should probably avoid any sort of relationship that could take up too much of your time, such as a romantic one."

At this comment, Melanie's face dropped a bit and a visibly noticeable sadness came off of her. The hosts all looked at each other, sharing weird looks with each other and then staring back at the girl in front of them.

"Mel-chan? Are you okay?" Hunny asked, putting one arm around her as he noticed her take the sleeve of her dress and wipe away at her eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but it's just a sore subject." She replied, wiping away at her eyes again. This was not the time to break down and cry in front of anyone.

"You're just overreacting. If your boyfriend left you, there was obviously some reason," Hikaru chimed in all of a sudden. There was a sickening silence that overcame the room as everyone's eyes trailed to meet Hikaru's. Of course, most were mixed with disappointment and some showed signs of disapproval, but one certain pair almost made him want to take back everything he said. Melanie's entire face was pinched and she looked hurt. Her eyes seemed like they were locked on his and every moment that they were made him him want to reel back into a corner to burn.

"Hikaru, that was a stupid thing to say and you know it," Kaoru broke the silence from next to him, shaking his head slowly and releasing a deep sigh as he realized that his brother had a long way to go.

Immediately there was a fight at the table, Hikaru was trying his best to defend himself but it was all for nothing as soon everyone realized that Melanie was gone. Tamaki searched the house quickly but then he noticed the front door slightly open still and went on to close it. The entire house was silent and once again all eyes were on Hikaru.

"Hika-chan, you know you shouldn't have said that. Go find her before she gets hurt." Hunny spoke up as he shook his head disapprovingly. The glares he was receiving from all corners of the table made Hikaru promptly get up from his place along with the rest of the club and march out the door. He was rolling his eyes over and over as he was mumbling over how stupid this was, but still stopped in front of the door that he noticed read 'Suzuki'. He knocked once, no answer, and then placed his ear to listen for any sort of sound only to be left with the deafening silence of all of his friends behind him.

"It's close to getting dark already," Tamaki worried, looking at the setting sun in the distance before snapping his attention right back to the red head in front of the door. "A host is supposed to be a gentlemen, even a friend who you can rely on when things go bad, not a rude vigilante with too much time on his hands."

"Listen, boss-" Hikaru started, but he was quickly cut off by his own twin.

"Hikaru, you know that if it gets dark and she ends up getting hurt, it's all your fault, right?" Kaoru interrupted him.

"Aw, c'mon, you too, Kaoru?" Hikaru whined, but when he noticed Hunny start to step closer to him, he put his hands up in the air to signal his defeat. "Alright, I'll go look for her."

The hosts all watched as Hikaru started his descent down the stairs and when he was finally out of sight down the street, they also walked off in their own directions to find the lost girl.

All down the street, Hikaru mumbled profanity to himself. He couldn't care less if this girl was gone or what happened to her and even regretted trying to help her out in the beginning because so far most of his experiences with her weren't that pleasant and this just took the cake. Honestly, who _cares_ if her boyfriend broke up with her and now she's all sad? If this was the way she acted she should have been happy that she even had one in the first place, but then there's also the fact that she never confirmed nor denied that this was in fact a boyfriend who hurt her so maybe she was just offended that she never even had one and he just hit a rather sore spot.

Hikaru's thoughts became wilder and wilder as to what could have possibly been so cruel about this entire situation, but was stopped in his tracks when he swore he heard the familiar sound of crying coming from around the building he had just walked past.

"Crying?" He mumbled to himself, turning around only to see a giant dumpster stationed against the side of the brick building, leaning against the wall with what looked like a familiar shade of yellow fabric sticking out from beside it.

Hikaru moved towards the fabric, and sure enough, the crying became louder and clearer as he realized that it wasn't just crying, but also a trail of harsh curse words and a bunch of names that were probably laced with some sort of ill memory.

"Hey, is that you?" He called when he was right next to the dumpster. Instantly, the yellow fabric that had peeked out was pulled back and the crying had ceased only to be replaced with faint sniffling sounds. "Listen, you can come out now and go back home. It's dark and dangerous to be out here by yourself."

"Leave me alone."

Hikaru rolled his eyes, he knew that sometimes he could be stubborn and childish but at least when he did it he was guaranteed to not be kidnapped as a result of it. As he walked around the dumpster, he finally saw Melanie sitting there in a small heap of her dress. She looked rather pathetic if he was being completely honest, but now was probably not the time to tell her that.

"C'mon, everyone is worried about you and I'm not allowed to come back without you."

"That's not my problem."

 _Ouch._ Hikaru scoffed, so offended at her statement that he immediately walked back into the direction of the road. He was in the middle of angrily ranting about how she was insanely rude for someone who only had a job thanks to him that he was completely taken by surprise when he felt an arm across his chest.

"You better turn back around," Kaoru warned his twin in a stern voice. He was leaning against the wall with one of his eyebrows raised and at times like these, Hikaru knew he meant business and wasn't about to take it easy on him. With one giant, reluctant groan, Hikaru turned back around and started his slow walk back towards the sniffling Melanie. This time when he turned the corner, there she sat with her head tucked in between her legs instead of just her hands covering her face.

Slowly, Hikaru sat down right beside her, unaware of what he was doing let alone what to do and for a few minutes, they just sat in silence. He had never been put in a situation where he was expected to comfort someone and at this point he was glad that he never had to before this.

"I'm sorry that I said those things." Hikaru finally broke the silence. Admittedly, his voice was monotone, it sounded like a fake apology and by Melanie's lack of reaction, he figured that she knew it was too. After letting go of a deep sigh, he leaned back against the wall and looked at the giant painting on the building in front of them. It was an advertisement for what seemed like a skating rink that was open during the winter at the lake a few blocks down the street. There were couples and families skating on it, but one particular family caught his eye. It was a tall man, similar red hair to his with his eyes closed as he made a smiling expression and held the hand of a tiny little girl who looked quite similar to the father while being in the midst of slipping on the ice. On the other side was a woman with loose brown curls who gave a loving smile to the man while also holding their daughter's hand.

Hikaru noticed the girl slipping again and suddenly got an idea.

"When I was five years old, my parents took Kaoru and I to a skating rink," Hikaru started out loud. The sudden story had caught Melanie's attention and he noticed that she wasn't crying anymore. Her eyes weren't even puffy which started to make him wonder if she was even crying in the first place. "Kaoru was skating with my mom while I skated with my dad who, still to this day, can't skate well, but neither can I so this story will probably be exactly the same if it happened today."

Melanie giggled a little at the comment, making Hikaru's eyes light up a bit as he realized that she had a little smile starting to form on her face.

"Well, this doesn't happen often but sometimes Kaoru and I are competitive, and in this case, it caused my literal downfall," Hikaru chuckled a bit, remembering how he had challenged his mother and brother to a timed skate across the lake. "So Kaoru and I took our mark with our parents at the very edge of the lake and when I shouted go, we blasted off. Or at least I wish that's how it happened. It turned out that while Kaoru and mom were well paired together as great skaters, dad and I just tripped over our feet and planted face first into the ice."

"Ouch, that sounds painful," Melanie commented, receiving a nod from Hikaru in response as he lifted up his chin and laid a finger along the bottom of his jaw line. Melanie noticed a rather small scar and she figured that it could only have been the result of the incident.

"It was, I had to get stitches to stop the bleeding," Hikaru laughed a bit. It's not that the story was necessarily funny but looking back on it, it _was_ ridiculous.

Melanie covered her mouth as she laughed, trying her best to stifle her giggling and hoping that he wouldn't be mad at her reaction, but instead he just smiled right beside her.

"I'm sorry for laughing but all I can imagine is you falling head first onto the frozen lake and just crying as Kaoru and your mom race away to victory," Melanie giggled again, feeling the muscles in her cheek start to hurt from all the laughing. Hikaru in this moment actually took a notice of her features. Her smile was actually very pretty, she had dimples adorning it on both of her cheeks and they were adorable to say the least, but of course there was no way Hikaru was gonna mention it right that moment.

"No, it's fine. I just hope that it helped you feel better," Hikaru admitted, looking over to see her giggling stop and the smile fade. She didn't really seem sad anymore, more like something was bothering her.

"I just need you to realize that my life has been kind of hard lately." She finally spoke up, mindlessly messing with one of her curls while she stared at the advertisement in front of them.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I was stupid to bring up your boyfriend or whatever it is that made you so upset," Hikaru replied, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment and trying his best to avoid eye contact with her.

"For the record, I'm not crying over some guy," Melanie corrected him, but when he looked over to see if she was angry, she was actually smiling playfully at him. "I like to think that my feelings of despair aren't just limited to a partner."

"Then what are you so upset about? Kyoya was talking about romantic relationships and you just took that the hard way," Hikaru asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl before standing up again. He reached out his hand to her and she accepted it graciously as he pulled her up. Though, her face was getting a bit red as she realized just how close they were to each other.

"It's a long story and I'm not sure if I would like to share it with you yet." She answered, much to Hikaru's annoyance.

"Aw, but c'mon! I shared one of my stories with you!"

"No one said you had to do that." Melanie replied indifferently. She looked around to find the street and started walking back towards the road, leaving Hikaru trailing behind.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Hikaru complained, catching back up with the girl before slowing to a walk.

In the meanwhile, Kaoru and the rest of the host club stood on the side of the building where the advertisement stood and watched as Hikaru pestered the girl.

"Will he never learn?" Tamaki sighed, shaking his head and starting his walk back to Haruhi's house.

"It's Hikaru. What do you think?" Kaoru replied, walking off behind him.

"I think that all of you are full of it," Haruhi mumbled under her breath as she left with Kyoya in tow.

Hunny and Mori stayed behind a little more as they watched all of their friends ahead of them walk after the two in the very front.

"Takashi, the more I think about it, the more I realize that Hikaru has a long way to go before he will be able to branch out to girls by himself." Hunny commented, popping another sweet in his mouth.

"Yeah," Mori agreed as the both of them finally made their way down the road.

A little while later, Hikaru had finally stopped bothering Melanie over her story considering the fact that they had finally made it to their final stop in front of her apartment door. The lights were shining from under the door and through the window, so Melanie figured that her mom had finally returned.

"I accept your apology, Hikaru," Melanie broke the silence, "at least if it's still available for me to accept."

"Might as well be," Hikaru replied, knocking on the door and listening to the sound of footsteps and loud classical music being played through the wall. He figured that the taste in music must run through the family.

"Well, thank you for sharing your story with me even if I didn't return the favor." Melanie chirped up, smiling brightly at Hikaru while holding out her hand for him to shake.

"I expect that story someday," he said, shaking her hand and letting go right as the door was opened up by a woman who he assumed must have been Melanie's mom. She ushered her in before staring at Hikaru for a minute, greeting him and then awkwardly closing the door shut.

He started walking back down the stairs, figuring that it was probably time for him to go home anyway, only to be stopped by his twin.

"So, things we learned today: you suck at apologies and every time Melanie is rude to you, it's because you're just as rude to her." Kaoru mused as he walked alongside Hikaru to the limo that he had already called out for them.

 _"Oh shut up."_

* * *

A:N: Ayeeeee guys.

Sorry about not updating last week, there's a lot of testing and projects which means a lot of studying and homework that I have to do so I haven't been on my laptop in about two weeks now. (Also, the switching between pronouns for Haruhi was intentional. Before Melanie discovered her secret, she referred to Haruhi as a boy, and afterwards as a girl so I wanted to make that clear by switching the pronouns also.)

But the next chapter is already written and I'm going to try to get it uploaded by next Monday, if not sooner :)

Also, a huge thank you to WritingSoul and MusicOfMadness for both beta-ing this chapter!

Hope you enjoyed, and I'll be waiting for your reviews/favorites/follows!


	4. Chapter 4

Why Me?

Chapter Four

Two weeks had passed since the incident and everything seemed to go rather smoothly; well, at least it was for the most part. The host club, which had expected some sort of miraculous friendship to bloom out of the previous events, was severely let down as they realized that not a single word had been spoken between Melanie and Hikaru. Any sort of chance to communicate with each other was ignored and all eye contact had been kept to something less than a minimum. It got to the point that one day, the club had walked in to realize that the piano in the corner had been turned so that it was no longer facing the twins' corner, but instead Hunny and Mori's.

Tamaki and Kyoya (the latter of which didn't necessarily care) sat in the back of the classroom that morning, waiting for the right person to pass through the door, and when she did, Tamaki made quite the display until she finally sat in between them.

"Melanie! How are you doing, my princess?" Tamaki greeted. Melanie shrugged her shoulders, not really giving them the response they had been hoping for. In all honesty, she hadn't had a very good night's sleep, not that that was anything new considering that her sleep schedule had always been messed up, but last night was particularly hard for some weird reason. All she knew was that she had awoken after sleeping for perhaps an hour with tears streaming from her eyes, but what was the cause behind them she couldn't remember.

"Well, we have the trip coming up soon, and you're going to come, right?" Tamaki asked excitedly. Melanie, once again, shrugged her shoulders before pulling out her notebook and doodling in it. It was the only way she knew she could possibly stay awake.

"I didn't think that I would have to say this, but it is my duty to inform you that you don't actually have a choice in the matter, we were just trying to be polite," Kyoya interrupted Melanie's doodling. Melanie immediately looked over at the shadow king.

"B-but I can't afford it!" Melanie pleaded, trying to reason with Kyoya only to be cut off by Tamaki.

"Do you want to go?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then it's all expenses paid, don't even worry about it," Tamaki explained, giving her a cheerful smile. Melanie returned the favor and started doodling again in her book, except this time it was fast and more excited.

"So where is this trip anyway?"

"Venice."

At the sound of that, Melanie closed her eyes and felt the smile wipe straight off of her face. Why does everything always have to come back and bite her in the-

"Is there a problem with that?" Kyoya asked her. You would have had to be oblivious to not notice that her entire demeanor had changed within a single moment.

She wore the most believable smile that she could muster when she turned her attention back to Kyoya.

"Not at all."

Kyoya looked suspiciously at the girl. He didn't know very much about her private life since he'd been busier with Tamaki's schemes lately, but he was well aware about a few things. He knew of the fact that she actually had a family business for example. The White group was the pharmaceutical and hospital management tycoon of the United States, even rivaling the Ootori Empire in comparison. What he didn't know though was why the daughter of such a rich man was in the middle of Japan living with her mother and going to Ouran on a music scholarship of all things. Had it not been for the sudden appearance of Hikaru, he would have pulled out his laptop and answered any question he had regarding their new piano player.

"Hikaru! Did you come to see your precious king?" Tamaki asked, standing up with open arms as he waited for Hikaru to embrace him, only to be met with him ducking right underneath his arm and walking straight to Melanie's desk.

Melanie felt way too nervous for her liking, it had been weeks now since she had last talked to him and somehow she was perfectly fine with their no speaking arrangement, but now he was in her classroom standing right in front of her and she couldn't have wished any harder that she was anywhere else.

"So I know I haven't talked to you lately, but I still feel kind of bad for what I did so I got you this." Hikaru started, handing over a glittering silver box and then crossing his arm in annoyance. He didn't like all the attention he was getting for being in the classroom and having given some girl a present but he knew that it would have been so much worse if he had done it at the host club.

Melanie hesitantly stared at the box, her face burning up as she felt not only Tamaki and Kyoya staring directly at her but also the entire classroom. At this point it wasn't a matter of just making enemies, she was committing social suicide. The thought was enough to send her anxiety into over drive and her foot lifted itself up to scratch the back of her other leg, a little quirk she developed to try to cope with it.

"Can you please open it a little quicker?" Hikaru asked impatiently, causing Melanie to quickly open the top off the box and see sitting in there a white gold bracelet with a sapphire hanging off of it along with a little heart right by the side.

"It's beautiful..." Melanie replied, picking up the bracelet from its container and fiddling with it. It was exquisitely shiny and somehow she started wondering if she had seen it before? She used to always go jewelry shopping before any sort of formal event that she was forced to attend with her parents so it was quite possible that she had. Melanie redirected her attention to Hikaru as she felt his hands gently touch hers and take the bracelet from her, open the latch, and then wrap it around Melanie's wrist before closing the latch again. She could have sworn that she saw a small smile start to form on the corner of his lips, and it made her wonder just how childish Hikaru really was.

"I hope you accept my apology," Hikaru grumbled, only low enough for Melanie to hear. She picked up her head and looked straight up to meet his bright eyes staring down at her and even though he tried to act like he was extremely annoyed, his eyes gave a different impression; he actually seemed kind of like he was enjoying himself.

Getting pleasure from simple mannerisms and praising yourself for it seemed like the type of thing Hikaru was prone to do.

Melanie nodded her head in delight and watched as Hikaru bowed before her and then turned around and walked directly out of the classroom. All heads returned their initial position facing Melanie and soon you could hear whispers formulate around the room for the second time.

"Melanie, what was that about?" Tamaki whispered to her, moving his desk over so it was right next to her's instead of the normal two feet wide gap.

"I guess Hikaru felt really badly about what he did," Melanie replied back. The more she thought about it, the more this entire situation made her wonder; she had already accepted his apology two week ago, and now he made a point to say he was sorry again?

Something told her that Kaoru was behind this.

Tamaki and Kyoya exchanged confused looks, both wondering about the whole situation but being beaten to it by the ringing of the bell and the sudden appearance of their teacher.

As Melanie entered the host club that evening, all eyes were on her again. Word had gotten around to the hosts about the incident that morning and all of them had the same initial thought about it.

Hikaru did something... nice?

And funny enough, all of them trailed back to the same conclusion as Melanie.

Must be Kaoru's doing.

Melanie laid her stuff down by the piano and stretched her wrists and fingers, noticing Haruhi approach her from the horizon. Ever since she found out her secret and the meaning behind it, she felt relieved that she wasn't going insane when she first started wondering about Haruhi.

"Word got around to a lot of people about the situation that happened this morning and I for one am wondering what exactly happened," Haruhi started, sitting down on the bench next to her.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure myself if I'm being honest, but Hikaru gave me this cool bracelet." Melanie replied, holding up her hand to show the jewelry to her friend. Haruhi nodded her head, holding up the two charms on it and then releasing them again.

"Just out of personal experience, I'd advise you to keep an eye out for Hikaru. The host club is notorious for bringing up old memories in exchange for favors." Haruhi explained, looking over to the twins and noticing them poking Kyoya from both sides. They seemed to be whining about some sort of overabundance of customers and how they wanted more free time in between to bother Tamaki.

"Well, I guess I'll have to settle it right now," Melanie said, getting up and starting her descent towards Hikaru and Kaoru. She soon realized though that that was easier said than done as she tapped on Hikaru's shoulder and saw his face turn to face her.

"Do you need something?" Hikaru asked in a rather rude voice. Melanie was about to roll her eyes at the comment when she thought about how she wasn't about to get in a fight with Hikaru after he just gave her a gift.

"I just wanted to thank you once again for the gift-" Melanie started, being interrupted by Hikaru before she could even finish.

"Don't be too flattered, it only cost 100,000 yen so it was relatively cheap compared to what I could have bought you," Hikaru explained nonchalantly, raising his elbow and putting it on the shoulder of his twin who had managed to join the two.

Melanie in the meanwhile, felt like she was going to faint.

"Wait one moment, I can't accept this, that's way too much," Melanie started to ramble, trying her best to take off the bracelet but seeing as Hikaru put it on her left hand while she was left handed seemed to make it entirely more difficult. "I can't even dream of affording anything this expensive anymore."

"Seriously? I spent a lot of time trying to find a nice bracelet that I thought you would like and now you're going to give it back?" Hikaru asked, his face twisted in annoyance as he watched Melanie fiddle with her bracelet. At his words though, she seemed to stop trying to undo the hook and rather looked back up at him. He could start to see a small smile form on her face and admittedly, he flashed back to that night two weeks ago when he first noticed how she actually had a cute smile. It started to make him wonder how it could possibly be adorable even at a moment like this when his guard wasn't down.

"If I keep it, I'm not going to let you use it against me," Melanie warned. Hikaru couldn't really take her warning seriously seeing as she was basically giggling through the whole sentence.

"Wasn't planning on it, I like to think that I don't have the means to blackmail people like Kyoya does." Hikaru replied, also laughing, but stopping once he noticed that Kaoru had disappeared from his side and was standing right by Tamaki and Hunny as all of them gave him funny looks. The type of looks your friend would give you to tell you that they're going to mercilessly embarrass you later. Hikaru felt a shiver go down his spine as he realized that when he gets home that night, the horrible taunting from Kaoru would only begin.

Melanie noticed Hikaru's smile fade and turned around to see some of her host club friend's standing there in a huddle. Their whispers were amazingly quiet considering that their normal speaking voices were louder than her screaming. By Haruhi's look of disapproval and Mori's shaking head from across the room, Melanie started to realize that whatever they were talking about couldn't possibly be good news for her.

"Just ignore them, they get like that when they have nothing else to do," Hikaru dissed them, rolling his eyes and walking away to his and Kaoru's area, leaving Melanie by herself in the middle of the room to watch him walk away.

'I guess his kindness only goes so far,' she thought before shrugging her shoulders and walking back to the piano, hearing the excited whispers tone down while she passed only to resume again when she was out of ear shot.

* * *

"Mom! I'm home." Melanie yelled into her house that afternoon once she returned from the school. She still had a smile on her face that held through all two hours of the host club meeting. Even when people asked what she was so happy about, she couldn't quite explain why, but was still unwavering in her attitude.

"How was school?" Her mom asked from the kitchen area. Melanie set her stuff down on their tiny dining table before gently sitting on the chair accompanying it and crossing her legs.

"It was interesting," Melanie admitted, picking up one of the cups that was left from her breakfast that morning and drinking the left over tea.

"I can see that," Misa replied. She caught a glimpse of something around her daughter's wrist that she didn't remember seeing that morning when she left the house, so she walked over to her and lifted up her hand to examine the bracelet. "I don't remember seeing this before."

"I got it from a friend."

"A friend?"

"Yeah, his name is Hikaru and our relationship kinda hit a rough patch a few weeks ago but to make up for it he gave me this." Melanie explained, feeling her arm start to grow sore from being held up for so long. Misa flipped over the heart pendent, rubbing a single finger over the word etched into it.

"Hitachiin?" Misa gasped quietly as she reread the word over and over again.

"That's his last name." Melanie replied, taking her hand away as she finally grew tired of keeping it up.

"How in the world did you manage to become friends with one of the Hitachiins?" Misa wondered out loud, crossing her arms and looking expectantly at her daughter. It was obvious that she was becoming increasingly nervous in the situation and the smile that Melanie clearly had on her face the entire time started to fade away.

"Well you know how I got a job at the host club, right?"

"Yes, I am aware."

"Well Hikaru and his twin Kaoru are actually in the host club."

Misa held a confused expression on her face for a full minute before letting a sly grin show.

"Oh, is that so?" Misa started giggling. If her daughter's accusations were true about what the host club was truly about, beautiful men entertaining bored young ladies, then all of a sudden her happy demeanor made a lot more sense. "So I'm guessing Hikaru is your favorite, huh?"

Melanie looked confused at her mom, obviously playing dumb.

"No mom, I play in the club." Melanie tried to explain but Misa only started giggling at her before turning back around and returning to the stove to finish her cooking.

Melanie felt the eerie silence overcome her household and for once she noticed that no music was actually playing. It was just her and her mom's breathing filling in the empty space.

Or at least it was until she noticed her mother singing under her breath.

"Melanie and Hikaru sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-"

"Mom!"

"Hm? Oh, was I singing out loud again? My bad." Misa lied, bopping her head from side to side and continuing the familiar tune.

"It's not even close to being like that!" Melanie whined, standing up and poking her mom in an attempt to get her attention.

"I didn't say anything as far as I'm concerned."

Melanie humphed loudly at her fake accusation and returned back to her chair, crossing her arms and pouting.

"After what happened back in the states, I don't want anything to do with love." Melanie mumbled to herself, thinking that her mom hadn't heard her.

Misa's face fell when she heard her daughter's whisper and she stared at the teen sitting in her chair and looking out of the window towards the road.

Being caught in a crossfire can do that to people.

* * *

A:N: Hey y'all. Please excuse my lateness once again but I recently finished school which meant a lot of tests and stuff which was killing me. I haven't even touched my laptop in over a month until about two days ago and so I finally got this chapter out. (Which I hope everyone enjoyed of course!)

Anyway, so review, favorite, or follow to your hearts content. I look forward to every sign that someone out there is enjoying what I'm writing and it really gives me the motivation to keep going, because sometimes we all get a little bit discouraged.

Hope to see y'all next week!

(Credits to MusicOfMadness for editing this chapter for me!)


	5. Chapter 5

Why Me?

Chapter Five

When the host club's limo rolled up to the apartment complex, Melanie was looking at the long black car with suspicion. Had it not been for Haruhi's reassurance that they weren't about to get kidnapped, at least by somebody they didn't know, Melanie might has retreated back inside and completely missed the trip all together.

Well, that _would_ have been the case if Kyoya hadn't threatened her.

Tamaki was the first one to stick his head out of the car into the cool morning breeze. His cheerful personality started to actually get on Melanie's nerves a bit, but she kept her cool considering that this was an all expenses paid trip and the only reason she was even angry was because of the fact that she had to wake up at four in the morning to get ready in time to be out there before five. What sort of _nerve_ did Kyoya have to book a flight at seven in the morning when he himself was rumored to be just as bad as Melanie when it came to any sort of activity before ten?

"Well you two look lovely this morning." Tamaki greeted, getting out the limo and opening the door for Haruhi and her. Funnily enough, when Melanie stepped foot in the door, the only other available seat was next to the one person who obviously had no sort of partiality to her. Hikaru looked bored, as usual, and didn't say anything as she walked by him or even sat next to him. He just stared straight ahead and slowly let his eyes droop in an obvious display of sleepiness.

Melanie looked around the car, somewhere in between uncomfortable with the lack of communication with the otherwise talkative hosts and delighted. Hunny and Mori were knocked out cold, both of them leaning into the corner of the car and allowing their heads to rest against a window. Kyoya was finding comfort in leaning back on his chair and just resting his head against the stiff board that separated the driver from the group, Kaoru was doing the same. As the car began to move, Melanie noticed Tamaki and Haruhi with their eyes closed, leaning against each other and their heads almost stacked on top of each other, Tamaki's arm was around Haruhi's shoulder in an effort to hold her closer to him. Melanie giggled a bit to herself as she finally saw some sort of extent to what their relationship was.

"What could possibly be funny at this time of the morning?" Hikaru asked her, looking over at the girl seated next to him and then tracing her stare to the couple directly in front of them. "Of course the boss would be putting the moves on Haruhi this early in the morning."

Melanie laughed softly at Hikaru's comment, wondering if his face matched his serious tone of voice, but was relieved to see that he had a bit of a smile peeking out.

They sat in silence for a few moments, simply listening to the slow, repeated breathing of all their friends around them and the purr of the engine as they started their relatively small trip to the airport.

"Aren't you tired?" Melanie wondered out loud, looking past Hikaru at his twin and trying to figure out why he wasn't mimicking his twin's actions for once.

"I drank four cups of coffee about an hour ago, I'm not going to sleep for a while." Hikaru replied, his voice hushed with hints of sleepiness still evident in his slightly slurred words.

"A while is an understatement," Melanie added, turning around and looking at the window at the highway passing underneath her feet. The only light outside was the illumination from the street lights and the headlights of the few cars already on the road which somehow she felt matched perfectly with the intense silence inside and outside the car. The few buildings which were already lit up set a sort of artificial morning glow for the city as an introduction to the actual sun rising later.

"I'm guessing you were forced onto this trip just like Haruhi." Hikaru suddenly said, turning his head to the right to see Melanie still staring out of the window.

"I wouldn't call it being forced. I'm grateful for the job I have, so coming along is just part of the duty I have to it," She replied, finally turning back around as the world around her went black. The road they were on went underneath a tunnel, meaning no more street lights and dark city buildings until they resurfaced.

"Well, aren't you humble," Hikaru muttered, not removing his eyes from her as he watched her yawn softly.

"I know that you wouldn't understand and to be honest, up until a few months ago, I wouldn't have either, but when you don't have a lot, you have a lot to fight for, Hikaru." She explained, slowly closing her eyes and leaning her head back, letting it hit the car with a slight thud.

 _When you don't have a lot, you have a lot to fight for._

What an interesting thought.

"I swear, I'm never getting on a plane with you again," Melanie grumbled, obviously annoyed when she got out of their car and onto the ground in front of the house they were renting for their visit.

"Aw! C'mon, you're no fun." Hikaru whined, poking her again as he got out of the car.

"That trip was _hours_ long, how did you manage to get on my nerves every single moment of it?" Melanie scolded him, rolling her eyes and whacking away his hands from her cheeks. After having to sit in the window seat next to Hikaru the entire plane ride with him constantly poking at her, pulling at her curls just to see them bounce, and somehow not getting overcome with sleep like e _veryone_ else on the plane, she was more than ready to tear her hair out, or better yet, his.

"Getting on nerves is what I do best, what can I say?" Hikaru replied nonchalantly. He was bored on the plane and still wide awake from all the coffee he drank and didn't want to be the only one suffering. So he figured why not introduce the newbie to his shenanigans too.

"If this is how you're going to act the entire trip, I'm not here for it." She muttered under her breath while walking to the back of the car and grabbing her suitcase, making sure that that she rolled it over Hikaru's foot on the way in. His yell of pain made her feel a little better.

Once everyone piled into the house, Tamaki rolled out a piece of paper that had been stuffed in his pocket and laid it flat on the glass coffee table located in the middle of the living room. Everyone seated themselves in the plush chairs around it while Melanie sat on the floor right in front of the table in order to get a better view.

"Alright, men! It's time for sleeping arrangements!" Tamaki announced, grabbing a pencil out of his pocket and drawing four large squares in a row and then writing eight numbers beside them, each number with a name assigned to it.

"Hunny-senpai, you and Mori-senpai will get a room." Tamaki said while he drew the numbers five and six next to the first box.

"Kaoru and I will take the next room," Hikaru announced, taking the pencil straight from Tamaki's hand and drawing a number three and four in the box right next to Mori and Hunny's room. Tamaki swiped his pencil back, repositioning the small teddy bear eraser at the end and shooting Hikaru a dirty look before he redirected his attention to the two spare bedrooms.

"Melanie and I could take the bedroom next to theirs-" Haruhi offered but was met with a rather intense glare from Tamaki at the mere suggestion.

"I will _not_ have my daughter sleeping near those _doppelgangers_!" Tamaki interrupted. Melanie looked over to see the twins rolling their eyes at Tamaki's over dramatic display of affection and she quickly realized one crucial thing.

 _Everyone in this club is insane._

"Don't worry, Tamaki. After what Hikaru put me through on the plane, he better not even _think_ about trying to get into our room." Melanie assured him as she took the green pencil, clicking the top for more lead to come out, and then writing the numbers seven and eight in the box next to the twins room, then one and two in the room next to theirs.

"Something tells me that you're not going to let that go." Hikaru assumed, standing up and stretching his back for a moment before taking his suitcase and rolling it towards the room.

"Oh, you have no idea," Melanie promised him. The irritation had actually, for the most part, disappeared, but she figured that if the rumors that she heard about the trouble loving Hitachiins were true, she may as well work their nerves as well.

She followed the twins and Haruhi down the hall, past the first door and then stopped at the second while she waited for Haruhi to drop her stuff and open the door. Melanie looked over at the twins only to see Hikaru giving her a funny look, which of course she couldn't let go.

"Is there a problem, Hikaru?"

"Where did you get that dress?"

Melanie looked down at the dress in question and immediately understood the confusion. It was a bit on the shorter end, reaching a few inches above her knee and had a large part of the back missing while the front came up across her chest to reach around her neck in a classic halter all while being made out of beautiful light blue silk.

Not to mention that it was Hitachiin brand.

"I got it as a birthday present this year."

Hikaru and Kaoru both looked at each other, exchanging a bewildered look before shaking their heads and opening the door to their room, disappearing into it without another word.

Melanie did the same, looking over to see the two king sized beds at opposite ends of the room, one facing Tamaki and Kyoya's room to the left, and the other facing the twins. Seeing as Haruhi had already laid her stuff down on the one on the left, Melanie took the one to the right.

She had unpacked nearly all of her stuff, placing it in the drawers on both sides of her bed stand when she suddenly heard a knock on the wall.

"What was that?" Haruhi asked, slowly walking over to Melanie's side of the room and putting her ear to the wall. Within three seconds, there was another loud bang on the wall and what sounded like laughing coming from the other side. "It's the twins again."

"Of course it would be," Melanie groaned as she closed the last drawer and then made her way through the door, down the hall, and stopped right in front of the twins bedroom.

As she knocked twice, she could hear the laughing again. When she knocked again, she heard the hushed whispers between Hikaru and Kaoru as they debated who would answer the door.

"Are you two actually ten years old?" Melanie called through the door, not making a single effort to hide the annoyance in her voice. The voices inside the room hushed, instead they were replaced with the sound of footsteps approaching the door and stopping again. Right as she was going to practically kick the door in, it swung open and standing there was one of the twins, a bright smile plastered on his face.

 _It's not fair that they get to be attractive even when they were annoying.  
_  
"Hello there, sweetheart." He greeted, leaning against the door frame gently and crossing his arms while doing his absolute best to keep his gorgeous smile intact.

"Don't ever call me that again, and where's Hikaru?"

Kaoru looked surprised at Melanie, more taken aback at her ability to tell him apart from Hikaru rather than her resistance to his charms.

"How did you know-"

"Just standing here in the middle of the door frame for thirty seconds would have been more than enough time for Hikaru to push my buttons again." Melanie explained, trying her best to politely push Kaoru's arm out of the way before walking straight into their room. It was set up exactly like her's and funnily enough, Hikaru happened to have the bed facing her side.

A large smirk made its way onto Hikaru's face as he saw the angry little brunette walk into the room.

"I'm guessing you're here to accuse me of trying to strike one of your nerves."

"It's an accusation alright. Stop bumping the wall on my side of the room." Melanie commanded, walking closer to where he was laying and crossing her arms. He knew it was a horrible cliché to give in to, but he couldn't help but think she was at least slightly adorable when she was angry with him.

"It's nice to know that you happen to have the bed behind me," Hikaru started, raising his hand and knocking it against the wall repeatedly, "because now I don't think I will be able to stop."

Melanie groaned, past the point of irritation with this stubborn twin, then turned around and stomped back out and to her room. Haruhi laid on her bed, already dressed for sleep, reading a book.

"I'm guessing that you didn't have very much luck reasoning with them."

"I think I just made matters worse." Melanie complained, landing face first into her bed and not moving. She slowly felt the drowsiness from the long day overcome her and she soon fell asleep, not even bothering to change her clothes or get under the covers.

* * *

When Melanie awoke, it was pitch black outside. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and her chest was rising in staggered, harsh breaths. She could hear Haruhi's steady breathing as the sheets slowly raised themselves up and down. As she turned her head to find a clock, she found her cell phone after using her hands to navigate the entirety of her bed and then the clutter of random objects that happened to inhabit the night stand.

 _Four in the morning? I was out for longer than I thought._

Melanie looked over for something to drink, her throat was parched and she could tell that she had lost a bit of water just from crying, judging by how her hand met a lot of wet spots on the bed. There was no way she could go back to sleep with the way her heart was pounding anyway, so she decided that perhaps having a cool drink of water was just what she needed to help calm her down.

After she had slipped into some pajamas, she slowly opened the door, flinching when she heard it creak and silently cursing herself for how loud it sounded before slipping outside with no further issues; or at least that was the case until she felt her little toe hit one of the tables along the walls of the hallway.

"Oh my fu-" She started cursing, but then inhaled a sharp breath and started her ascent back down the hallway.

"Melanie? Is that you?"

She turned around in the middle of her tracks to see in all of his illuminated glory, Tamaki with his head stuck out the door and his golden hair radiating as the moonlight from the window in front of him hit it.

"It's me."

"Getting some water?"

"Yeah, I had a pretty bad dream."

"Would you like me to assist you?"

"If you want to."

Tamaki slowly moved the rest of his body out of the way of the door frame and quietly shut the door behind him before he started following Melanie down the hall and into the kitchen where he flicked the light switch on.

"Would you like to talk about it?" He asked the small girl as she walked to the cabinet and pulled out two glasses, filling each with a small bit of ice and then water.

"It's nothing you would probably want to hear about, just personal issues really," She assured him, handing him his glass and then taking a swig of her own. Immediately her throat, which at that point started to feel sore, felt infinitely better so she gladly took another sip.

Tamaki chuckled a bit to himself, in a lot of ways the girl in front of him reminded him of Haruhi and this was one of them. They both had the need to keep their burdens to themselves even though he personally thought what they needed to do was let off some steam.

"Oh believe me, when it comes to personal issues, I'm your guy," Tamaki halfway laughed, dipping his finger in his water and swirling it around. Melanie raised an eye brow at his self accusation.

"How so?"

"Let's just say that when it comes to the host club, all of us have our secrets that we would rather keep from the world, but I like to think that if they did decide to let someone in on them, I would be the person they talked to if they really needed it." He explained, taking one of his hands and pushing his blonde hair out of the way only to feel annoyed when it fell back into his eyes again.

Melanie shook her head a bit. Tamaki's remark had instantly reminded her of when she first met him and Kyoya had told her that Tamaki was probably the nicest and most trustworthy person she would meet during her time at Ouran. She realized that somehow, he was the type of guy to give off that impression. Perhaps she did have to share some of her problems every once in a while, otherwise she would just explode from keeping all of her feelings in, right?

"Well, my parents aren't together anymore and every once in a while, I get a nightmare where it sort of replays the day that it happened except each time in a more twisted and vile way. You see, I'm sort of the disappointment of the family so my relationship with him never was all that good in the first place so when he kicked my mom out, there was no one there to vouch for me anymore so I had to leave too." Melanie admitted. Instantly, she felt a little better as she watched Tamaki slowly nod his head, taking in all the information and analyzing it.

"I'm sorry, I know that you don't deserve that," Tamaki apologized.

"It's not your fault, no need to be," Melanie shook her head. She exhaled a deep breath that she hadn't realized she was holding in.

Tamaki lifted himself onto one of the high stools that were placed at the built in kitchen bar and stirred his water again.

"Your story reminds me a lot of my own actually."

Melanie looked over at the blonde. Was he about to explain to her that despite his constant happy-go-lucky attitude he was actually a problem child in the eyes of his grandmother?

The answer was actually remarkably close to that.

"I was also shunned from my family at one point in time so I completely understand how much that hurts," He started. Melanie could see in his eyes that he was sad as he reminisced the story and the smile that was usually on his face had been kind of replaced with a frown full of sorrow. He looked so upset that she regretted not telling him to stop.

"Tamaki, you don't have to-"

"It's fine, you're the only one who doesn't know anyway so you might as well hear it straight from me," Tamaki replied, making eye contact with the girl and not looking away as he explained the entirety of his experiences to her. By the time he was done, he could see that she was mildly horrified, probably at his grandmother's actions, but he knew that she was too nice to say anything.

"I'm so sorry, now I feel selfish trying to act like my problems were anything compared to yours," She apologized, bowing in front of her classmate and hoping that he accepted.

"But your problems are just as bad as mine. Don't try to downplay your hardships just because of my old sob story. I don't let it get _me_ down!" Tamaki chirped up, picking Melanie up from her bow and resting his hand on her shoulder. She looked thoroughly confused at the notion, but when he flashed her a smile, she couldn't help but flash one back.

"Thank you, Tamaki-senpai."

"No problem, now lets get some sleep," Tamaki chuckled, waiting for Melanie to place her cup in the sink and then walking behind her, making sure she got back into her room without any problem before he entered his.

* * *

A:N: Good morning y'all! (If it is indeed morning where you're living.)

I don't really have much to say after this chapter except for the usual stuff. A huge thank you to MusicOfMadness for editing this chapter and another thank you to those of you reading this! I appreciate every review, favorite, and follow.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I'll be posting the next chapter soon :)


	6. Chapter 6

Why Me?

Chapter Six

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Haruhi asked Melanie the next morning when she was about to head out the door. Today was their off day and it was planned that they were going to all head down to Venice to enjoy the city fully, but upon awakening that morning, Melanie had come down with the flu.

"Yeah, as long as I sleep I'll be fine," She explained, turning over in her bed from one side to the other, staring straight out their door into the hallway where Kaoru passed by yawning profusely.

"Don't be afraid to call us if anything goes wrong." Haruhi assured her, pulling out her phone and turning the ringer up loud enough for Melanie to hear before she too walked out of the room.

Within a minute she could feel her eyes starting to droop again, that being attributed to her lack of sleep last night, but as soon as she made eye contact with a passing Hikaru, she knew it was all over.

"What are you still doing in bed?"

"I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"None of your business."

Hikaru furrowed his eyebrows at Melanie's sudden lack of manners but then rolled his eyes at her. Haruhi popped back into the room to grab one last thing, giving a sudden harsh look to Hikaru and telling him to not bother Melanie when she is sick before walking back out into the hallway and down the stairs. While his attempt to annoy Melanie was successful yesterday, it somehow wasn't enough for him which caused a bright idea to come popping up into his head.

"I can take care of you if you're feeling sick." Hikaru offered, a large smirk forming on his face as he saw a surprisingly energetic Melanie open her eyes again with a worried expression on her face.

"No!"

"For someone who was apparently," Hikaru added a fake cough for effect, " _sick_ , you sure are lively this morning. It would be a shame if I told Tamaki and he started to wonder why his precious piano player was skipping out on him."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I _would_." Hikaru chuckled darkly, making his way over to Melanie's bed and sitting down at the edge of it. "If you just told me what your problem was, then maybe I would be inclined not to."

He enjoyed the look of irritation that crossed her face as she contemplated which of the two options could possibly have been worse, then with a heavy sigh, she told him that she would tell him.

"Good." Hikaru cheered, grinning wildly to himself as he finally got one thing he wanted out of the stubborn girl next to him.

"Is everything alright, Mela-" Tamaki asked as he came through the door frame and saw Hikaru sitting on the edge of her bed, causing him to flip out as usual.

"I don't know _what_ you think you're doing but there is no way in _hell_ that I'm letting you do it!" Tamaki shouted at Hikaru, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and then shaking him while the twin just rolled his eyes.

"Calm down boss, I'm gonna stay here and take care of her since she's _sick_."

The sort of emphasis that Hikaru put on that last part has made Melanie's stomach drop; was he _trying_ to give away her secret?

"Don't you think for one moment that I'm going to let you two stay here _alone_!"

"Tamaki, it's fine, since when have I been up for actually spending more time with Hikaru than necessary?" Melanie asked him, sighing on the inside as she realized the giant mess she could have potentially been getting herself into.

It took some more convincing, but eventually Tamaki left, leaving the entire house empty except for the two sitting in the room.

"Time to confess, why would you fake being sick?" Hikaru asked, crossing his legs and eagerly awaiting Melanie's answer.

"I have a lot of memories of Venice from when I took trips here with my mom and dad, but now those memories are all soiled for me so it's too painful to go." She explained, turning to her side so she didn't have to look Hikaru in the eye when she explained her boring back story to him.

"Really? That's it?" Hikaru whined.

"I'm sorry that I spoiled your marvelous delusion."

"Well, since you let me down in that area, can you at least answer some other questions for me?" Hikaru asked, still looking at Melanie impatiently as she attempted to bury her head into the pillow.

"Fire away."

"How in the _world_ do you have a Hitachiin dress?" Hikaru questioned her. It had been bothering him all night that the mysterious scholarship student had one, not to mention that she knew his mom on a first name basis when they had first met.

Melanie sat up in her bed, also crossing her legs and trying to plan out where to start.

"Well, my dad is actually a wealthy business tycoon, just like your parents," She started, considering leaving out the parts that she had told Tamaki that morning. "and so before my mom and I moved here, he used to always spoil me. It was just means to keeping me quiet and out of the spotlight, really, since he always kept my brother a priority, but I got expensive jewelry and dresses and I got flown out to designer shows. That's how I knew who your mom was, at one point we had stocks with your family and I would always fly out with my dad for the meetings," Melanie explained. All of a sudden, Hikaru felt like she seemed familiar, of course not in the way that he knew her already for a few months, but a distant memory flashed in his mind. One of a girl walking into his mom's office one day while he and Kaoru were sitting on the couch and briefly smiling at them before following behind her dad and brother to his mother's front desk.

"Wow, all of a sudden I feel like I've met you before," Hikaru admitted, shaking his head a bit at that nostalgia overcoming him.

"It's entirely possible."

"So, why are you a commoner now if you obviously used to be rich?"

"I told you, my parents got divorced." Melanie repeated. She realized that the usual pain in her chest that came associated with the thought had started to fade, more than likely because she had thought about it so much that there wasn't much emotion left to spare.

"Yeah, but something about that doesn't seem right, shouldn't your mom have gotten some of your dad's money in the divorce? You shouldn't be living this sort of lifestyle if that were the case." Hikaru wondered out loud.

"I don't know all the details of it, all I know is that I can't even dream of ever getting another dress like the one I was wearing yesterday." Melanie finished, looking over to see the dress laying over a pulled out chair.

Hikaru started to put together some puzzle pieces concerning the girl in front of him, and it made him feel sad for her. She probably wouldn't accept his pity if he tried to offer it to her, but in a lot of ways she had a messed up back story that fit right into the host club perfectly in some sort of sick, twisted way.

"Would you like to go out?" Hikaru asked, but when he got his quick and questioning reaction from the girl in front of him, he decided to rephrase it. "To the beach of course."

Melanie considered it for a moment, but then narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

"Because not everything about this trip should be filled with sadness. It's boring to think about the past too much, so let's just walk outside and go directly to the beach." Hikaru explained, getting up from her bed and stretching his arms and legs out. As he offered his hand to Melanie in an attempt to pull her out of the bed after him, he noticed her slight hesitation, but after he shot her what was obviously the charming and famous Hitachiin smile, even she agreed to his request.

 _Maybe she is a bit soft after all._

* * *

As they walked onto the beach a few minutes later, Melanie was shocked to find that despite it being noon, it was already sweltering hot.

"If I wanted to go outside and feel like I'm standing in the middle of the oven, I would have gone to Florida, not Italy." Melanie complained, walking along with Hikaru down the beach, not necessarily going anywhere, but still heading out.

"So, what do you even do for fun? Every time I see you, you're either playing the piano or stressing out over something." Hikaru asked. He didn't mean to be rude, but budging by the disgruntled look that crossed her face, he thought that he may have struck a chord.

"I could ask you the same thing considering that all you do is dote on your brother and harass me."

"Touché." Hikaru replied, looking down at the ground and kicking away at some sand stuck between his toes. The sun was shining directly down on them, but with the cool breeze that swept across the open area, he thought it felt great, not to mention the warm ground beneath his feet and his lack of shoes. Despite not going into the city, which was still something he could do whenever he wanted to, he still thought this was a great way to spend his day, even if the girl next to him didn't necessarily agree.

"For the record, I read a lot when I'm not at school," Melanie brought up, looking over to see Hikaru dragging his feet across the ground and she attempted to do the same. When she fell behind too much though, she resumed walking normally.

"Sheet music?"

"No, I meant books." Melanie giggled. She thought it was kind of funny that the only way Hikaru could imagine her was sitting at home all day watching notes dance across a page full of staffs.

"Do you have a certain favorite?" Hikaru asked, stuffing his hand in the pocket of his shorts and using the other one to wipe away at the tiny bit of sweat accumulating on his forehead. When he looked down at Melanie to see if she was doing the same, he was astonished to notice that despite her complaint earlier, her face didn't even have a sheen to it.

"I will admit that I really enjoyed Romeo and Juliet." She replied.

"Oh, so the host club piano player is the romantic type?" Hikaru chuckled slightly, noticing the slight red blush start to build in her cheeks. _So, that's what gets her, huh?_

" _No_ , I'm not. I just liked the story is all," Melanie disputed. "Besides, Romeo was too clingy and Juliet didn't think for herself."

"That's your complaint? Not that they both killed themselves after only knowing each other for a week? Six people _died_."

"It was a tragedy written for people presumed to not be very intelligent," Melanie corrected, looking forward and noticing a volleyball net that they were walking towards. There was a sky blue volleyball laying on the ground right underneath the net. Hikaru looked over at the net once he traced her stare and decided to do some more investigating.

"Played any sports before?" He asked, lengthening his stride until he could pick up the volleyball, then turned around to make sure Melanie followed him.

"Actually I played all star volleyball until I was 16." Melanie answered, picking up her hair and wrapping a hair tie around it until it stayed in a loose bun at the back of her head.

"Is that so? I don't believe it." Hikaru taunted, spinning the ball on his finger and laughing at the small aggravated huff he got in reply.

"And I don't believe that you know when to keep your mouth shut, but we're both here right now, aren't we?" Melanie fired back, taking off her sandals and throwing them to the edge of the court. Hikaru smirked wildly at the girl on the other half of the court, wagging his finger at her before throwing the ball up into the air and blasting it to the other side of the court.

When Melanie saw the ball coming to her, she easily hit it back, much to Hikaru's surprise.

"What was that about you not believing it?"

Hikaru laughed softly to himself as he hit the ball again. He wasn't actually kidding when he said that he didn't think that his short friend had actually played volleyball before, but now that he knew she hadn't lied, it was so much more fun.

"I just didn't see it coming is all." Hikaru replied, watching as she ran quickly across the field and sent the ball back with ease.

"So, what about you? What do you like to do?" Melanie asked him. She was having a lot of fun with Hikaru, something she never imagined she would actually admit to herself; if you had asked her an hour prior if she could imagine herself genuinely enjoying the time she was spending with him now, she would have easily said no.

"I dabble here and there," Hikaru answered, diving into the sand in order to hit the ball, quickly getting back up and wiping the dirt off of his face, "but recently, I've been really into photography."

"I could see that. Taking pictures like any true five-year-old can." She joked. Her heart jumped briefly as she sprinted forward in order to hit the ball.

"Hey! It's not that easy!" He whined.

"Relax, I was kidding," Melanie replied, "but it sucks when you're at the other end of it, doesn't it?"

Hikaru scoffed a bit, rolling his eyes before lightly tapping the ball over the net again.

"So, do you play any other instruments beside the piano?" He asked, authentically intrigued by the notion.

"Plenty actually. Cello, flute, guitar, you name it." Melanie answered. This time when she saw the ball go high into the air, she waited until the last minute to jump up and smack it hard and low, finally hitting the ground and ending their one-on-one match.

"God, is there anything that you _can't_ do?" Hikaru questioned her, rolling the ball over with his feet to where they had originally found it and digging a hole in the sand so that it wouldn't move.

"I'm terrible at drawing, and I mean _really_ terrible." She admitted, bending down so she could fit underneath the net and looking out at the ocean. The beach wasn't really empty, but the few people who were roaming weren't anywhere near them. Melanie tugged on Hikaru's shirt and pointed over at the ocean. To her surprise, he nodded his head and started his walk with her towards it, sitting down when they reached the area where the water barely tickled their toes.

"At least I have more than one advantage over you," Hikaru continued, slowly digging his feet into the wet sand and laying down on the ground behind him. As he closed his eyes and felt the sun's rays hit him, he heard a slight thud and some loose sand brush against him as Melanie did the same. They laid there in silence for thirty minutes, neither saying anything to the other and just letting their feet become engulfed in water.

"It's hot. I'm gonna swim," Hikaru broke the silence, leaning back up and noticing that Melanie didn't do the same. When he looked to his left, he saw her sleeping, her chest rising softly. Instantly, he debated on whether or not he could just leave her there, even with the beach being relatively clear and him being pretty close, he knew that if Tamaki found out that he left her to go swimming unattended, he would be dead meat. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that she would probably thank him later if he woke her up.

"Hey, Melanie, wake up," Hikaru said, poking at her leg and groaning when her only response was her just turning over. "C'mon, wake up."

He tried again to poke her, and when she didn't wake up, he resorted to shaking her lightly.

"What could you possibly want, Hikaru?" Melanie asked, not even opening her eyes, but still putting her hand in front of her eyes to block out the harsh sun.

"I want to swim and I can't just leave you here so come with me." Hikaru commanded, trying to pull at her free arm in order to pull her up but just letting out a small yelp when she hit him so that he would let her go.

"You woke me up for that? Just let me lay here," Melanie complained, rolling over again and not even bothering to fix her shirt as it showed the bottom portion of her back.

"Tamaki would _kill_ _me_ if he found out that I did that."

He heard a low groan escape her lips as she flipped over again and looked at her underclassman with an unamused face, but still raised herself up, garnering a small cheer from him.

"Hurry up, the sun is killing me." Hikaru continued, standing back up again and turning out to look at the ocean. As the early afternoon hours hit, more people were hitting the beach and he didn't want to have to go into the water when there were so many people taking up all the space. When he turned back around, he felt his face heating up and averted his eyes again as he saw Melanie start to pull off her shirt.

"Relax, I have something on underneath," Melanie told him as she tugged the last bit over her hair, "you didn't think I was going to swim in my shirt and shorts, did you?"

Hikaru coughed a bit, still not looking back but letting out a fake scoff of disbelief.

"Of course not."

"I can't swim without my clothes on, let alone with my shorts dragging me down." Melanie laughed a bit to herself, stepping out of her shorts and kneeling down in order to fold them alongside her shirt. Hikaru pulled off his shirt and threw it on the ground next to her stuff, much to her annoyance.

"I don't think that was necessary,"

"C'mon, I just wanna go in the water!" Hikaru whined, grabbing hold of Melanie's hand and dragging her into the shallow ocean, not stopping until it roughly hit her belly button. When he finally let go, she snatched her hand back, wrapping it around herself as she felt herself freezing.

"The water is so cold."

"Is it? I didn't even notice." Hikaru laughed, running his hand through the water quickly and then splashing the girl next to him, laughing even more when she screamed.

" _Hikaru_!"

"What?"

 _"I just told you the water was cold!"_

Hikaru grinned mischievously, splashing her again before taking a few steps back away from her.

"Did you? I must have forgotten."

Melanie, despite trying to keep up an angry appearance, smiled at him as she tried to get closer and splash him back, though eventually got a bit frustrated when he moved back so far that her shoulders barely rose above the water.

"That's no fair! You have to let me get you back at least _once_." She called out to him, tilting her head a bit and slightly pouting at his unfair height advantage.

"I don't recall that being a rule?" Hikaru yelled back, slowly starting to walk closer to her again until he was roughly an arm's length away from her. Melanie in the meanwhile wanted to splash him when he least expected it, of course now that he was so close, he was merely waiting for her to try to get him.

"You're an asshole. Do you know that?"

"Eh, I've heard it once or twice," Hikaru grinned wildly, nonchalantly walking closer once again and then swooping his arms behind Melanie, picking her up and then starting to walk farther into the water again.

 _"What are you doing! Let me go!"_ Melanie yelled at him. Once she realized that he had gone so far back that there was no way if he let her go, she would be able to touch the ground again without being completely underwater. She subconsciously started clinging to him for dear life, practically pulling him closer to her and tightening the bond between them.

"I don't know, I think you've been pretty mean to me ever since we got off the plane yesterday," Hikaru teased, taking another step back until the water hit his shoulders.

"I just told you I can't swim!"

"I don't know, does the phrase 'not my problem' ring a bell?" He taunted, starting to spin around a bit. The mere sight of the vast, endless ocean made her hug him even tighter if that was even possible.

"I'll be nicer just take me back!" Melanie begged.

"Say please."

"What are you, _sadistic?_ Just take me back!"

Hikaru scoffed, but regardless started walking forward again.

"You're no fun." He pouted, but once he had walked back out onto shore, he placed her back on the ground.

"Please don't _ever_ do that again." Melanie started, using her shirt to dry off before she started to shiver. Hikaru picked up his shirt and handed it to her after she was done, it was a lot bigger than her's was, so it would have probably kept her warmer than her smaller and now wet one would have.

"Thank you," Melanie accepted it, tugging it over her bathing suit and pulling on her pants underneath it. She looked behind Hikaru to see a few girls standing there, obviously looking at them and talking amongst one another. At least one of them looked familiar to her, the heiress of the largest magazine publisher in all of Japan who also happened to be in the same class as her. Immediately, she averted her eyes, which Hikaru noticed and then turned around to see what the situation was.

"Just smile and wave, if you act suspicious they will think you're suspicious," Hikaru told her, grinning towards the ladies and waving slightly. They all returned the favor and then started turning around, walking down the beach towards the hotel that all of the host clubs guests had rented.

"I don't have any business talking to them." Melanie admitted, watching them as they repeatedly turned around to look back at the two of them.

"Then they have no business talking about you."

She chose not to respond to Hikaru, kind of angry about how he didn't understand how society worked for those who weren't as fortunate as him, but soon enough, they had started their trip back to the beach house. A few couples passed by them and stared at them, but while Hikaru's words lingered with her, she just ignored them and their piercing stares.

It took roughly twenty minutes to get back to the house, but before they had started going up the steps, Melanie turned to Hikaru and had cleared her throat.

"I really appreciate what you did for me today," she started, avoiding eye contact with him. She had spent almost the entire journey thinking about how she had clung to him while they were in the water and started to feel absolutely embarrassed at the memory. "And I want to say thank you."

Hikaru smiled a bit, as much as the girl in front of him sometimes annoyed him with her boring ways, he had to admit to himself that he still had fun today, even if she didn't appreciate his ways of handling things.

"That's the job of a host." He replied, picking up Melanie's left hand and bowing down, lightly pressing his lips to it and letting them linger for a moment. Slowly he started to look up at her, making eye contact with her dark brown eyes, and then grinning ever so slightly, just how the ladies at the club liked it. What he didn't expect, though, was the sudden retraction of her hand.

"I-I have to use the restroom." Melanie made up slowly, quickly walking away from the confused red head in front of her and slipping through the door, running down the hallway to her room.

 _What was that about?_

* * *

Two hours later, Hikaru awoke to Tamaki's yelling.

"I did _not_ make rude comments about commoner coffee when we first met!"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, turning over on the couch and burying his head deep between two cushions in an attempt to block his voice out. It didn't work.

"Hikaru! Tell Haruhi that I only _welcomed_ her culture when she first introduced us to the rare delicacy!"

"Boss, I'm all for shutting down your enthusiastic fantasies, but Melanie's sleeping and you probably just woke her up." Hikaru pointed out, finally pulling himself back up again when he realized that his attempt to sleep through the noise that Tamaki had been causing since the group returned wasn't going to be a success.

"Well, someone's awfully considerate of other people," Kaoru interjected, walking around the couch that Hikaru was laying on and sitting on the arm chair diagonal from it. "When you were out on the beach today, Melanie must have knocked some sense into you."

He groaned, leaning back again and just staring up at the ceiling.

"I didn't go out on the beach today," Hikaru lied, not in the mood to put up with his brother's teasing.

"Is that so? Well, that's funny because I found a pair of shoes by a volleyball court today that sure reminded me of the ones that Melanie was wearing yesterday." Kaoru continued, acting innocent and holding up the pair of sandals that she had obviously forgotten to pick back up.

"Fine, you caught us, she faked being sick because she didn't want to relive bad memories, alright?"

"So, you decided to show her a good time on the beach?" Kaoru asked, leaning forward and placing his palm on his other hand, grinning at his ridiculous twin.

"I told her that dwelling on the past was boring and I may have told her that going to the beach was better than that." Hikaru answered, using his right index finger to draw patterns into the material of the couch.

"Aren't you awfully considerate of the piano player's feelings. It was almost like it was just a few months back that you were telling me how rude she is." Kaoru chuckled to himself, obviously enjoying the conversation more than he should have.

"If you're going to tease me, I'm not in the mood for it."

"What point of the afternoon did everything go south?"  
 _  
I wish I knew Kaoru, I wish I knew._

* * *

A:N: So, I just got back from vacation so sorry this is a little late but I think that out of all the chapters I've written so far (which would be 15)(Out of a planned 27 I think)(And I just added about 2 more on to the story line so yikes yikes yikes) this is one of my favorites and I hope you guys liked it just as much as I do.

Also, a big thank you to MusicOfMadness for editing this chapter again, and thank you to anyone that is reading this for reading of course. All of it really means a lot to me.

Next chapter should be updated within a week :)


	7. Chapter 7

Why Me

Chapter Seven

A few days later, the host club was back at it, entertaining the young ladies on the beach while Melanie played the piano on the deck attached to their rental house. She was enjoying her day so far. There was a slight breeze that swept across the otherwise hot beach the small amount of sunlight that hit her was comforting rather than sweltering.

She looked up from the piano and across the beach and at all of the girls. There was a line halfway down the coast leading up to a rock, with Tamaki on it, just to hold hands, something that Melanie heard was his most popular move. Kyoya was sitting underneath the shade of an umbrella, sipping a drink and being accompanied by a few girls, all of who fawned over him as he explained something to them. She wondered just what the cold vice president could possibly be telling them that made them obviously blush so hard, but her best guess was that they were just about to suffer from heat exhaustion. On the table right next to him, Haruhi was simply having a conversation with her guests, sipping at some cold tea and smiling when they had told her something adorable, just like Haruhi normally would.

Next were the twins, building up a huge sand castle with their guests. Kaoru had been building the actual castle, making precise measurements as he cut out parts of the blocks he built to represent the 'tall' castle exterior, taking his finger and gently scrapping off the leftover sand that was adding extra weight and threatening to knock the entire thing down. He had learned from his past mistake an hour prior, which his guests were still trying to comfort him over as they admirably sat right next to him and watched him get busy.

Hikaru, in the meanwhile, was hard at work trying to keep the ocean from penetrating the castle by building three separate rows of outer walls. Melanie noticed how he hadn't been actually hosting any guests, instead pacing himself quickly, building up any of the fallen walls within moments of them being knocked down. All the while still taking a minute to take a drink of water and when he knew the girls were looking, he poured some on himself, causing them to squeal with excitement. She was glad in particular that he hadn't been looking at her, because she too averted her eye momentarily, a bit embarrassed at what she had just witnessed. When enough time had passed for her to slowly start to calm down again, she stared over at him working again, cutting little ripples into the side of the walls with a stick the ocean had laid to rest a few feet away from him. She thought he was kind of cute when he worked so hard, his eyes were focused on what he was doing and his hair was slicked back since it was still wet from him and Kaoru splashing each other around in the ocean earlier, and if she was being completely honest, she loved it.

It was kind of awkward when she realized that she genuinely thought he was attractive, and instead tried to rid her mind of the thought.

She shuddered a bit, but before she could avert her gaze again, she heard the sound of two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs and a voice speaking up.

"Wow, Mel-chan! It's amazing how you can play the piano while looking at Hikaru the entire time." Hunny teased Melanie, finishing his trek up the stairs and giggling a bit when he saw her head snap back to her keyboard and her face flush a dark red.

"I-I-I was n-not!" She stuttered over her words, paying more attention to the music sheets in front of her and trying to act like she was deep in focus.

Hunny pushed his way onto the bench next to her and then grabbed the drink from Mori's hand, handing it over to Melanie once she finished her song.

"Sure, Mel-chan." He replied sweetly, watching as she started to drank from it. She refused to acknowledge the boy's obvious teasing. Instead, she tried harder to convince herself that she wasn't looking at him at all, a feature that she did not have the fortune of possessing.

"Mitsukuni," Mori mumbled, catching the eye of his cousin and shaking his head.

"Fine, fine," Hunny agreed, standing up again and staring at the brunette before him, making brief eye contact and winking ever so slightly before he turned back around and started his descent down the small flight of stairs.

The seniors heard Melanie mess up the song she was on right as they had turned, but Hunny held in his giggling until they got a far enough distance away from her.

"Takashi, Mel-chan is so cute, isn't she?" He brought up. Mori nodded, also cracking a smile but wondering more what his cousin was doing than what their piano player was thinking about. Hunny had started to walk off toward Hikaru, a single glass still left in his hand. When he made it to his underclassman, he tapped him on the back.

"Is something wrong?" Hikaru asked, looking at his suspiciously happy club member. Hunny pushed a single glass into his hand as Hikaru gave him a weird look in return.

"I already have water."

"Yeah, but Mel-chan probably is thirsty. Don't you think, Hika-chan?" Hunny replied sweetly, grinning at Hikaru and popping a piece of candy into his mouth.

"Then why don't you bring it to her?" Hikaru asked, looking back down worriedly at his sand walls. The first one had already collapsed since their conversation begun, soon enough the water would take down the second one.

"Takashi and I have guests to take care of too, you know. Besides, it's not like _you_ are actually hosting." Hunny answered, already starting to skip off before he could get a 'no' as an answer.

Hikaru watched as the short boy ran off before he looked back over and sighed as his second wall was breached. He was hoping that it would hold up by the time he got back.

Once he arrived at the stairs, he started his to ascend them, but when he reached the top, he stopped for a moment to take in the scene ahead of him. Melanie was swaying to the music, her eyes were closed and it amazed him how she hadn't even been looking at the keys but still played beautifully. It was one of Hikaru's personal favorites, Canon in D, but somehow it sounded different? When he looked at Melanie's fingers, he noticed her hands playing a lot of extra notes leading up to the main melody. If there was anything he knew about that piece, he knew that those notes weren't included.

His eyes traced back up from her hands to her face. He seemingly noticed her features for the first time. Her eyes were large and round like Haruhi's, except they were much darker in color and seemed to almost sparkle when she opened them to look back down at the keys. She had two dimples indented into her cheeks, something that he rarely saw, but he liked the way that they complimented her smile. Her hair was a shade of light brown and flowed down in loose curls, resting on her shoulders peacefully and complimenting the dress she was wearing. It was pink and flowed nicely, resting atop of her knees with short sleeves, the edges of which were cut to a wave pattern. She admittedly looked cute.

"I brought you some water," Hikaru broke through the music, flinching a bit when he heard the repetitive bass line fall through. Melanie halted her playing immediately, letting the notes float through the air, and stared back at Hikaru. She was noticeably taking deeper breaths and she looked a bit panicked, much to Hikaru's confusion.

"You scared me," Melanie replied finally, taking the drink that Hikaru had been holding out for her and sipping it.

"Sorry, next time I'll be more loud and announce myself." Hikaru shot back, sounding a bit harsher than he intended. Melanie looked away from him, causing him to wonder if he had accidentally hurt her feelings again.

"Your playing was great." He brought up in an attempt to smooth over the conversation before going over to the piano and lifting himself up on top of it. The piano was so tall that his legs easily dangled from it, so he gladly took the opportunity to swing them around a bit.

"Thank you, it's probably my favorite."

"Mine too," Hikaru agreed, "can you teach my how to play it?"

"Maybe one day," she answered, drinking from her glass again. She noticed the tree that was towering over her had started to drop flowers all over her, the seat, and the large black piano. The patio itself was surrounded by plenty of bushes, revealing many different types of flowers, each type ranging in size and color, but she especially loved the dark blue hydrangeas that were poking through the fence and tickling her leg ever so slightly.

"I love these flowers," Melanie started, picking up one of the petals that had started to collect on the piano, "especially the blue ones. I think they're the most beautiful of them all."

"Why the blue ones?"

"Because it's my favorite color." Melanie giggled, picking a blue flower with abnormally long stem and tying it in a knot around her finger, letting the actual flower act like the centerpiece of a ring.

Hikaru nodded his head along with her explanation, looking out at the beach before him and making eye contact with his brother, who gave him a thumbs up and got back to building their sand castle even larger than before.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Hikaru asked, breaking the sort of awkward tension that had been building between them.

"Didn't you ask enough personal questions yesterday?" Melanie raised an eyebrow at his question, unsure of what prompted him to suddenly get to know her again.

"This is just one more, I promise." He begged.

Melanie sighed a bit, playing a scale on the piano while contemplating her answer.

"We'll see."

"Alright, well, why did you move here exactly?" He asked again, concentrating on her facial expressions and trying his best to proceed cautiously.

"I couldn't stay in America anymore."

"And why is that?" Hikaru continued.

"Because my parents divorced and my father wants nothing to do with me." She explained, although a bit uncomfortable. The situation reminded her immensely of when Kaoru and him had been asking her questions in the classroom. Although she felt a lot more secure talking to Hikaru at that moment, she couldn't help but still not want to talk about her life.

"And why did your parents split?"

"Well slow down there, at least wine and dine me before you try to get my entire life story out of me," Melanie laughed to herself, scratching the back of her head awkwardly and turning her head out to the beach so she didn't have to look Hikaru in the face.

"Sure, I'll take you out to dinner."

Her head whipped back and her eyes locked with those of her underclassman; she couldn't tell if he was serious or not, but for her sake, she took it as a promise.

"No, I would really rather not talk about it." Melanie confessed, turning her attention back to the piano and playing a simple tune that her brother used to play to help her relax.

"C'mon, it'll kill me not knowing!" Hikaru whined, pushing himself off of the piano while slowly starting to close the distance in between them. He noticed how Melanie hadn't looked back up at him, still playing an easy rendition of what sounded like 'Mary Had A Little Lamb.'

"Stop trying to pressure me to tell you, maybe one day I'll decide that we're close enough that I can do it, but as of right now, I really don't want to." Melanie replied harshly, accidentally hitting a wrong key very hard as she ended her sentence.

"Fine, I'll wait for that day then," Hikaru huffed as he walked off, taking the stairs two at a time and stomping across the beach to where his sand walls were completely toppled over. He yelled out of frustration before crouching down and building it up again.

Hunny and Mori sat on the sidelines, just having finished a game of volleyball with their guests, wondering about what could have possibly happened up there.

"Of course Hika-chan would be able to screw up a good mood like this," Hunny shook his head, taking a sip of his tea before listening to a voice speak up behind him.

"What did Hikaru do?" Kaoru asked, sitting in the chair next to Hunny. He was watching as Hikaru unknowingly entertained their guests with his under-the-breath rantings while he aggressively and sloppily built up his walls again, shouting a curse word when the wall came tumbling down on its own.

"More than likely made Mel-chan say something rude to him." Hunny answered, looking up at the patio to see Melanie just sitting there on her piano bench, knees pressed to her chest and her arms wrapped around them while she looked down at the beach before her.

"She looks kinda sad up there, should we invite her down here for dinner?" Kaoru questioned his senior, already standing up to walk over to her, but when he made eye contact with his brother, he stood still for a moment. Hikaru saw his brother slowly inch towards the stairs leading up to the patio, which along with the mischievous look on his face, couldn't possibly have been good.

 _"Kaoru, stop!"_

Kaoru grinned widely, more to himself than to his brother as he gripped the railing and started walking up the stairs, hearing Melanie mumble to herself as he got closer and closer to the piano. When Melanie saw him come up the stairs, she rolled her eyes a bit and then stared back out into the ocean.

"What was that screaming about? Hikaru didn't get his way again?" Melanie grumbled, obviously a bit pissed at Kaoru's presence.

"That's actually pretty close." Kaoru admitted, sitting on the piano bench next to Melanie and watching as most of the girls had started to leave the beach. It was around dinner time and Kyoya had gotten them to leave, but Tamaki had assured them that they were all welcome to come back the next day. "We're about to have dinner, care to join us?"

Melanie simply shook her head in response, gazing at the table that had been set by some of the helpers that the house had come with. Even from where she was sitting, everything looked amazing and since she hadn't eaten in hours, it looked even better.

"C'mon, doesn't the food look good?" Kaoru taunted her, staring down at the large display of meals below them and starting to get more hungry himself.

"Not if Hikaru is going to be there," Melanie whined, feeling taken aback at how childish she sounded. Is _this_ what he had brought her to? Sounding like a five-year-old who doesn't like the circumstances? She sounded like Hikaru himself.

"What did he do this time?"

"Stick his nose in my business again, so I snapped at him." She admitted, mumbling her words more than flat out admitting it. As her conversation with Kaoru drew on, she felt more and more ashamed of how she was acting, but couldn't bring herself to stop.

"I won't let Hikaru bother you again this time," Kaoru promised, "sometimes he just doesn't know when to act grown up, but we're working on it."

Melanie started to bite her lip as she really thought about the situation. Was she _really_ going to let a _guy_ stop her from enjoying this all expenses paid vacation? She looked down at the table again, watching as Hikaru briefly stopped by each dish to wonder what it could possibly be about, dipping his finger in a sauce that was out, tasting it and then sticking his tongue out with his face scrunched up in disgust.

Was she going to let _that_ guy ruin her vacation?

"Fine, I'll come." She muttered, stretching out her legs and then swinging them over to the ground, standing up and following a grinning Kaoru all the way down the stairs.

Everyone except for Hikaru, Kaoru, and Melanie had sat down at that point, with three chairs in a row arranged for them. As Melanie reached her hand out to pull her seat out, Kaoru beat her to it.

"Please, be my guest."

She eyed him suspiciously. If there was one thing about this situation that seemed off, it wasn't Hikaru anymore. Nevertheless, she sat in the seat, feeling Kaoru glide the chair back underneath the table before pulling out the chair to her left and sitting down in it himself.

"Kaoru! I thought I was going to sit by you!" Hikaru whined when he noticed what had just happened, giving Melanie a glare that was obviously filled with envy. She returned the annoyed look right back at him, turning to the side and smiling brightly at Kaoru as he shrugged his shoulders in response. Hikaru rolled his eyes, letting out a deep, annoyed groan before walking around the table and sitting down in between Melanie and Mori, letting his leg kick the back of Melanie's chair a bit before fuming in his seat.

"So Melanie, would you like some of this salad? It's really good." Kaoru chirped, picking up Melanie's plate before she could even answer and placing some on it. Everyone around the table had ceased any talking and just stared at the scene before them, Kaoru's overly polite attitude, Melanie's assuming suspicion, and Hikaru's jealousy. It was almost straight out of a soap opera.

"Thank you very much, Kaoru..." Melanie thanked him, picking up one of her forks and slowly placing a loose salad leaf into her mouth, letting a smile creep onto her face as she enjoyed every moment of it.

"I really like that dress you're wearing by the way, it is obviously a great fit for your body and the pink really seems to bring out your dark hair," Kaoru complimented her, eyeing her figure up and down, and then smiling gently when Melanie seemed to beam about it.

"I was thinking the same thing!" Melanie replied excitedly, finally letting down her guard a bit and engaging in the actual conversation with Kaoru, deciding that there were no strings attached to their words.

"It's not _that_ great..." Hikaru grumbled under his breath, poking at an olive on his plate like a child, but when he noticed Melanie's hair flip from one side to the other, he looked up and rolled his eyes at her annoyed face.

"And who asked _you?"_ She huffed, raising an eyebrow and almost having a sense of arrogance to her words. Hikaru could feel his ego deflate, his brother was encouraging her to be rude to him by being nice to her and now she was obviously flaunting her lack of care for social standings.

"Why are you flirting with my _brother_ like that?" Hikaru shot back, not even making eye contact with her but rather with his twin behind her. His face was mixed into an expression that closely resembled sly self-satisfaction but also irritation. "First you sit in between us and now you're acting as if one compliment makes you better than me."

"Oh please, get off your high horse for a single minute," Melanie groaned, feeling like she was speaking to a twelve year old. The host club around them had started to make awkward conversation, still paying attention to everything that was happening between the twins and their piano player, but not wanting to be so obvious about it. It was only three seconds later when she felt something hit her left leg and immediately her thoughts traced back to Hikaru.

"Did you just _kick_ me?"

"What? Of course not."

Melanie looked at the smug expression on Hikaru's face, and instantly shot her leg out and hit his, earning a sharp inhale on his part but no words.

" _God_ , I can't believe I thought you were _cute."_ Melanie mumbled under her breath, sure that no one had heard her as she picked a piece of tomato off her plate and popped it into her mouth; or at least she was sure until Kaoru instantly started choking on his salad. Hikaru was up and at his side within a moment, asking if everything was alright while Kaoru just shrugged off his concerns and started laughing quietly to himself.

"Laughing isn't the thing I expected from you after you just choked," Melanie brought up, turning her attention to Kaoru and his face, tinted a light shade of red.

"And what you just said wasn't what I expected either." Kaoru chuckled, using a napkin to wipe his face and hide the obvious smile what spread wide across his face, only getting wider as he saw her cheeks flush to a bright pink.

 _"You heard that?"_ Melanie barely managed to choke out, hiding her face behind her hair before starting to slink back into her seat.

"Oh yeah."

"Heard what, Mel-chan?" Hunny asked from the other side of Kaoru. He had heard what she had said also, but for her sake, he wanted her to get the feeling of relief that her secret was safe.

"Please, just pretend I didn't say anything." She begged, sinking further and further into her seat. Kaoru chuckled slightly to himself, taking a small sip of his drink while he watched as Hikaru gave an odd look Melanie's way. Kaoru knew exactly what was going through his head, his attitude up to that point was just his way of trying to understand her, and he knew that at that moment Hikaru was getting closer and closer to giving up.

The rest of the evening continued on like that, Melanie and Kaoru talking, Hikaru making smart comments, Melanie and Hikaru fighting, and repeat. If it weren't for a particular moment halfway through the middle of the night, they might have fought for the entirety of the trip.

Melanie tiptoed out of her room for the second night in a row, this time though she was met with a light illuminating the end of the hallway where the living room was, which sparked her curiosity.

As she made her way towards the light, she peeked her head around the corner and squinted her eyes so she could better see who was still up at that time of the night.

"Hikaru?" Melanie whispered, covering up her mouth when she realized that her voice was still quite loud and had accidentally attracted the attention of the twin at question.

"Melanie? Why are you still up?" Hikaru asked, turning around on the couch and staring at her. Her hair was up in a high bun and she was wearing glasses, two features he had never witnessed her with, and she was wearing a set of pajama shorts and a loose fitting shirt.

"I could ask you the same question," she started, walking past the couch and up to the windows. The moon outside had illuminated the patio nicely so she could easily search for what she was looking for. "But if you must know, I'm looking for something."

At the mention of the mysterious object, Hikaru stood up and walked towards the window next to her, staring outside for the object that Melanie was searching for.

"What did you lose?"

"My bracelet," Melanie started, moving over to the large glass door and pushing down on the handle, stopping herself before she went outside so she could specify. "Not the one you gave me, but one I got from my mother."

"Family heirloom?" Hikaru asked, subconsciously drifting behind her onto the patio.

"Yeah, it's really important actually."

"Like most family heirlooms are." Hikaru countered, walking over to the table and lifting himself onto it while he watched Melanie look around.

"If you're just going to be impolite, you can go back inside." Melanie advised him, moving over toward the set of steps leading up to the balcony and after a moment of silence, walking up them.

Hikaru almost did go inside, had it not been for something shiny laying in the seat he was sitting next to. When he reached down to pick it up, he let his eyes trace the simple silver chain. If this was the heirloom that she had been talking about, it was quite unimportant looking and he couldn't understand why it would have been so imperative to find it.

Eventually she had walked back down from the deck, looking as frustrated as ever as she started to search the beach, a hopeless endeavor within itself.

"So, who did this heirloom belong to?" Hikaru asked Melanie, launching himself off of the table and following her as she trotted all over the remains of his sand castle.

"My great great grandmother on my father's side." She admitted, digging her fingers through the sand lightly before having the water come in and cover it with salty sea foam.

"But I thought you said your mom gave it to you."

"She did. My dad is the oldest of four brothers and so since there were no girls, the heirloom was passed down to him to give to his wife. Since I'm the oldest daughter, my mom just passed it down to me." Melanie explained, struggling with getting her sinking feet forward through the heavy wet sand.

"Well, I'm not sure if this really helps but I found a solid silver chain on the chairs over there just now and-" Hikaru started, taking the chain out of his pocket, only to be cut off by Melanie running towards him and taking it directly out of his hand.

"Thank you _so_ much." Melanie breathed a sigh of relief, taking the bracelet and putting it in the little pocket she had sown into her pants. "It's great finally having that burden off of my chest."

The two stood there in awkward silence as Melanie realized how close she had gotten to him. If she took a step away, she would seem rude, but if she stayed that close she didn't know if it was going to be considered weird.

"So, um, I guess we need to get inside then, right?" Hikaru mentioned, starting to turn around only to feel his shirt get tugged on.

"Wait one moment, I just want to say sorry." Melanie admitted quickly, feeling slightly embarrassed that she had to even apologize to Hikaru of all people.

"For what? I'm not the person you should apologize to about losing your heirloom." Hikaru commented, but not moving away any further.

"No, it's just that I've been kind of rude to you all day and you just helped me out so I feel like that's kind of unfair on my part." Melanie continued, looking down to the ground and trying to avoid all possible eye contact. Hikaru was a bit confused, never had he ever assumed that Melanie, of all people, was going to apologize to him, especially about rudeness considering that it's what all of their interactions are made out of.

"I mean, you're not wrong." Hikaru agreed, letting a small smile grow on his face as he realized that he had won in their sort of silent feud.

"But I refuse to apologize for kicking you, that was completely warranted."

"I didn't kick you in the first place!"

"Sure you didn't." Melanie rolled her eyes, walking past him and all the way up to the glass door. She turned around and gave him a small smile before walking inside, sending a large wave of deja vu his way as he remembered their first meeting.

 _Maybe you're not quite as annoying as I thought._

* * *

A:N: Thanks to MusicOfMadness for editing this chapter! Also thanks to everyone that has favorited and followed so far. The last update I did came with quite a bit of those so I really appreciate them all!

To answer that one anon, yes, you will eventually figure everything else out including whats up with Melanie and her dad's relationship, though maybe not in the same way that I initially planned. I may or may not have trashed the original way this story was going to end and now have an ending that I like a LOT more. Like this shit is gonna be top notch. I am very excited to write it and for you guys to read it.

Next update will be next Monday, so see y'all then :)


	8. Chapter 8

Why Me?

Chapter Eight

For three days after they had returned from the trip, none of the hosts saw each other. She was unsure about the other hosts, but Melanie had been preoccupied with avoiding them for the most part since after spending an entire week with them she couldn't take any more of their pretentiousness.

Well, at least that was part of the reason why.

The minute she arrived back at her house and laid on her bed, every single one of her waking moments were filled with the exact same person: Hikaru. She finally realized just how much of her vacation had been filled up with him, whether it was physically spending time with him or mentally thinking about him; it had gotten out of hand to the point where she had been awake at night going over her memories with him, and she considered that unacceptable. They had never even put a boundary line on their relationship, so she had no clue as to what to call it. Were they friends? Enemies? Acquaintances? Why did she even spend so much time with him if he drove her insane every time she was with him?

Nevertheless, she didn't get much sleep the night before their first day back to school. Since she was in the same class as Tamaki and Kyoya, she had done a good job of avoiding them until she had gotten to her very last class of the day only to see a surprising presence sitting in the seat next to her.

"Hikaru? What are you even doing here?" She asked her underclassman, setting her stuff down in the seat right next to his and watching while he sketched something down in his notebook. When she took a good look at it, she noticed that it resembled the outlines of a beautiful blue dress, more than likely a sketch that he might just turn into reality. He looked up from his paper, surprised to see Melanie walking into the class. She looked slightly tired as if she hadn't had a good night's sleep in days, but her speech was slurred so he garnered a slight suspicion that she had slept right through her last class.

"I really wish I knew. The teacher said that if I showed up to this class all this week, she wouldn't make me show up to her class for the next month," Hikaru admitted, not ceasing his eye contact with the paper but definitely noticing the teacher walking in through the door, giving him a nod, and then dropping her purse on her desk. "But you shouldn't tell anybody that we made that deal."

"Hello, students. I hope you had a very nice break," she started, pulling out a sheet of paper from her bag and then turning directly around to write on the board. "I've decided what the first major project of our semester will be."

"Oh great." Hikaru mumbled under his breath as he stared at the list of names she was writing on the board. She was writing down groups of students, one boy and the other a girl, with numbers next to them and as his eyes traced to the list, there was his name at the very bottom, and right next to it, Melanie's.

"A growing issue in the world is teen pregnancies, which while heavily attributed to unsafe sex, the board of education has decided that it would be a better idea for us to try and scare you out of having sex rather than just educate you more on it. So for your first project, you and your partner which I have written down on the board are going to become teen parents and take care of a realistic baby doll." She explained, stepping to the side to allow all students in the room to get a better view of the board. Immediately the room burst into whispers, many rolling their eyes at their partners while some complained more about the fact that they weren't allowed to choose their partners.

"Isn't this a little much for just a project?" Hikaru asked out loud, only to have their teacher place a single finger to her lips and then ignore him.

"Anyway, the number assigned to your name will tell you what doll you will be getting. Any team that makes it throughout the entire week will get an A, but it has to be as realistic as possible, which also includes living together."

Melanie sat there quietly while she took the news in. Of all possible people in this class, she had been paired with Hikaru, who she didn't even trust to take care of himself let alone a child. The thought of failing caused her to groan loudly which made Hikaru raise an eyebrow, but on the inside, she couldn't help but be slightly happy that she was paired up with him rather than someone else. Not that she would let him know that, of course.

"I can't believe she paired us up to raise a _child_ together." Hikaru muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes and starting to think of ways he could get himself out of it.

"I'm more concerned that she paired us up in the first place," Melanie interrupted, "wait until the host club hears about this."

"They'll never let it go." Hikaru groaned loudly again, letting his face hit the desk while he started mumbling incoherent curses about the club under his breath. Melanie noticed the paper with the drawing sitting on his desk again, while a few minutes prior it didn't resemble much of anyone, just a mannequin with a gorgeous dress on it, Hikaru had added a few features that caught her eye. For one thing, the hair he had drawn on it was curly and reached to it's shoulders, much like Melanie's own, while the eyes matched the girls dark brown locks. The drawing's entire facial structure looked oddly familiar, but she didn't get the chance to think it over before her thoughts were interrupted.

"Ms. Suzuki, I would appreciate it if you didn't stare off into space like that." The teacher broke through her thoughts, slamming a ruler down on the table in front of them and sneaking a peak at the page that Melanie was looking at. After a moment she let a small smile cross her face and released a tiny laugh into the air before she walked forward a bit more and watched as Hikaru slowly lifted his head off of the table. "I'm guessing that you're going to enjoy this project with Ms. Suzuki very much, aren't you Mr. Hitachiin?"

Hikaru stared at her dumbfounded before hearing Melanie clear her throat. He turned his attention from the woman in front of him to the girl beside him and noticed how her hand had been tapping at a piece of paper with her slightly messy handwriting on it.

 _'If you want to get a different partner, this is the time to ask.'_

After the professor walked far enough away, Hikaru took the paper and non suspiciously scribbled something down underneath her words before sliding it back to her, thus starting their exchange of quick notes.

 _'I'd much rather do it with you than anyone else in this class so I'll keep my partner if that's okay with you.'_

 _'Ouch, I'm sure the girls would feel pretty upset if they found out you said that.'_

 _'They can't even tell the difference between me and my brother. They should feel flattered that it's happened enough times that we don't feel offended anymore.'_

Melanie stopped for a moment as she read his note, holding a breath in for a minute and carefully considering her next choice of words before writing something down again.

 _'I found out the difference between you and Kaoru.'_

Hikaru scoffed for a moment before writing down his response.

 _'You mean other than the fact that we're two separate people?'_  
 _  
'Of course you're two different people, even though physically it might be hard to tell you apart. If people took the time to get to know you, you're completely different.'_

Hikaru almost felt his heart stop beating as he read the last part of her sentence.

 _If people took the time to get to know you, you're completely different._

He couldn't really explain why, but that part filled him with joy, not that he would let his reply show that same feeling. Melanie was stubborn, and in response, he had to be stubborn right back.  
 _  
'Oh, so you think you know us, huh?'_

 _'Pretty well actually, yeah. For one thing, I know you're definitely Hikaru because if I had this conversation with Kaoru, it wouldn't seem like we're arguing when we both agree on this.'  
_  
Hikaru took his time to think about how to reply while he heard Melanie giggle a little bit. Her fit of laughter was silent unless you were sitting right next to her like he was, and by the look of it, she was thoroughly enjoying himself.

 _'What's so funny?'_

Melanie quickly wrote down her answer, but had laughed so hard that it took him a full minute in order to decipher it.

 _'You really are complicated, but I like trying to figure you out.'_

 _'What does this have to do with you laughing?'_

 _'If you were in my shoes, you'd be laughing, too.'_

"I didn't realize kids these days still wrote notes, Mr. Hitachiin and Ms. Suzuki."

Melanie and Hikaru looked up to find their teacher in front of them, arms crossed until she started to reach for their paper. Simultaneously the duo reached their arms across the paper before she could pick it up, surprising the teacher.

"Now I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you don't give me the note and allow me to read it in front of the class, I think that I'm going to have to give you detention." She announced, loud enough for the entire building to have heard it. Hikaru started his inner struggle between privacy and Kyoya's wrath if they were to get detention that afternoon, but before he could even reply, there was the sharp sound of paper tearing next to him.

"I'll take detention," Melanie answered quickly, "but I guess since I ripped this paper up before Hikaru got his chance to answer that it would be unfair to give it to him too, don't you think?"

The entire class stood silent, shocked by Melanie's gutsy move to save her friend as they all awaited for both Hikaru and the teacher's reaction.

"Very well, stay after class. Since you seem to enjoy writing so much, I'm going to make sure that you write as much as your heart desires."

The moment after she walked away was filled with an entire room full of people exhaling sighs of relief as their precious host club member managed to evade trouble, and just in time for the bell to ring.

"Why did you do that?" Hikaru immediately asked Melanie, not packing his things until he got an answer.

"I like to think that I'm more of a closed book." She started, picking up their 'child' and looking around for a possible disposable battery. "And I figured that you are too."

"That was stupid of you to get detention over it." He told her, picking up the pieces of paper that Melanie had ripped up moments before and placing them in the waste bin next to him.

"I saved you from having it though, so I expect a little less _'that was dumb'_ and a lot more _'oh thank you, Melanie, my sweet kind friend who I cherish and want to pay back in any way I can.'"_ She mocked him, laughing when she saw his face scrunch up in annoyance.

"I do _not_ sound like that."

"Well when I'm imagining you, that's how it sounds."

"Oh, so you imagine me often? You've had practice mocking my voice?"

"Shut up, you're so full of yourself." Melanie replied, rolling her eyes but still grinning slightly. "And for the record, that's another way I know I'm not talking to Kaoru. He wouldn't be this rude after I just saved him from the pain of facing Kyoya would you have had to skip out on the Host Club."

"..."

"Don't you want to say something to me? This is the second time I've mentioned helping you out and you still haven't said those two magic words." She chorused, watching Hikaru's facial expressions as he ultimately decided whether or not to just finally leave and stop their conversation.

"I think you're expecting me to say thank you, so that's exactly what I'm not going to do." He finally answered, noticing the empty classroom around him and the teacher's glare towards the two as they continued to bicker. "So anyway, since for this project you have to come live with me, do you want to go straight to your house after school?"

"Excuse you?"

"So you don't want to get your things right after school?" Hikaru asked, confused by the sudden disagreement.

"No, who said we were staying at your house? Maybe I don't want to be the one to sacrifice for this project." Melanie countered, pulling out a few sheets of paper for her detention to start any moment. Hikaru scoffed at her, not quite understanding if she was being serious or not.

"What are you even talking about? You want us to stay at your little apartment as opposed to a _mansion?"_ He asked, groaning when he saw Melanie shake her head.

"She said it had to be as close to realistic as possible." She argued before bowing her head a little and mumbling the rest under her breath. "Not to mention that I'm not going to go home with you everyday just for all of these girls to come and want to fight me about it later."

"I don't think you actually understand what you're talking about," Hikaru started up, noticed their teacher staring at the duo intensely, and then continuing in a low whisper. "We're _rich_. Even if, hypothetically, I was going to get you pregnant and we would have to raise an actual child, this _still_ isn't how the rest of it would all pan out."

Melanie's face began tinting red in the cheeks, partly out of embarrassment over hearing him say that he was going to get her pregnant, and partly out of her getting embarrassed over the thought of him getting her pregnant.

Hikaru noticed the blush of course, he wasn't blind after all, and he used her momentary lapse in snappy comebacks to finish their conversation for good.

"So, I like to think that settles it, see you in an hour."

* * *

And just like promised, in an hour, Melanie walked into the host club room with another person in tow and a violin case in hand.

Hikaru watched over from his spot on the couch he was laying on as he let Kaoru do most of the work with entertaining the ladies for the last few minutes they had with them while Melanie went over to the corner next to the piano and started fiddling with the case. Even from where Hikaru was sitting, he could see that her hands were indeed red from all the writing she did in the past hour, and he started to feel slightly bad for her.

That was until he noticed just exactly who had followed her inside.

Eagerly following her every footsteps was Kai Minami from class 2-A, otherwise known as the captain of the school baseball team, but also first chair cello in the world famous school orchestra. He was tall and had dark brown hair matched with glowing green eyes, the type of guy who would fit perfectly into the host club just for looks itself, but his reputation of not getting along very nicely with a certain pair of twins had led that option straight out of the window.

But now it seemed that he still ended up in the room for a completely different reason.

"Kaoru, why is Minami here? Doesn't he have, oh I don't know, baseball practice?"

Kaoru turned his attention from cleaning up their past guests' empty dishes to exactly who Hikaru was talking about. He was wearing the normal men's uniform, just like all the other hosts in the room, and had a much larger case on his back than the one Melanie had been carrying. He had whispered a few words to Melanie, causing her to giggle and reply back to him with something that had made him blush a bright pink before running out of his way to grab a chair for her to sit in. She seemed to graciously accept, sweeping her uniform underneath her legs and then crossing them, patting the piano bench next to her as an invitation for him to join her.

"It looks like he's _flirting_ with her." Hikaru started up again, getting off of the couch and beginning to move closer to the pair before he felt Kaoru pull him back by his arm.

"So what if he is? That's none of your business, Hikaru." Kaoru informed him, but even he couldn't resist the thought of his old enemy having a crush on the piano player. The schemes that Hikaru and him could possibly run were endless, from secret admirer notes to fake love letters, it was hard for Kaoru to not stick his nose slightly into the duo's business.

"Yeah, but Kaoru, this is _Kai Minami."_ He reiterated as if Kaoru didn't hear him the first time.

"Yeah, but Hikaru, that is also _Melanie Suzuki._ Of all people who won't put up with you, I'm thinking you're about to mess with the wrong girl." Kaoru warned, but he could see that Hikaru's curiosity about his friend mingling with someone he thought was bad news mixed with his overly apparent need for Kai's flirting to go right over Melanie's head seemed to have been enough to drive him to his lowest point: asking Tamaki for advice.

"Hikaru, this isn't even any of our business who Melanie talks to outside of the club, and please don't ask Tamaki of all people about it." Kaoru begged him, following his twin as he slowly left their area and started to walk over to Tamaki despite the fact that he was hosting five girls at once.

"Melanie and I are raising a _child_ together now, this is more than my business, Kaoru." Hikaru argued with him. Kaoru had to stop for a minute as he took in the stupidity of what had just left his twin's mouth.

"A _child?_ It's literally a predesignated baby doll that you have to raise for a week." Kaoru tried to counter, but Hikaru had already decided to ignore him well before their conversation even started, right as Melanie and Kai walked in.

"Hey boss, I have a question for you-" Hikaru started, only to be met with Tamaki raising his hand and stopping him.

"If your question has anything to do with you wanting to harass Melanie and Mr. Minami, then I would prefer that you keep me out of it." Tamaki replied before turning back around and smiling at his guests again, bringing up whatever they were talking about before Hikaru interrupted them.

The twins stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do next before Hikaru simply started to walk in the direction of Melanie and Kai's corner, only to feel Kaoru jump on his back and tackle him down.

 _"Kaoru! What are you doing!"_ Hikaru groaned as he attempted to still crawl forward under his body weight.

"'What are you doing' is really the question!" Kaoru asked, wrapping one arm around his brother's neck and the other around the leg of the chair that Hunny was sitting on. To no avail, Hikaru's strength managed to not only drag his brother along, but also start to move a confused Hunny along with them.

"I'm _saving_ Melanie from a lifetime with that piece of garbage!" Hikaru declared, finally managing to get close enough that he could start to hear bits and pieces of the conversation between the two upperclassmen. He and Kaoru were hiding behind a couch (Hunny had been rescued by Mori), both of their eyes peeking around the corner as they watched while Melanie and Kai were warming up their instruments together. Melanie seemed lost in the music while being slightly rusty with her violin skills, she slowly moved the bow across the strings with ease and started to press down on the strings, causing the different notes to sound.

Kai on the other hand, despite having his cello in front of him ready to be played, just watched her. From the look in his eyes, Hikaru and Kaoru could easily tell that he was practically in love, staring at her with every ounce of passion he could more than likely muster. Well, Hikaru knew that it was either that, or even more likely, lust.

"Your playing is beautiful, I noticed it in orchestra a few months ago when you substituted for the solo violin but I never got around to telling you." Kai announced, clearing his throat slightly and trying his hardest to keep himself in check around her.

"Thank you, I'm a lot better at playing than I am at school so it's mostly what I have going for me," Melanie laughed at herself, setting the violin down in her lap while she continued to talk with Kai. Hikaru and Kaoru watched as he slyly attempted to impress Melanie, reaching over and flexing his muscles for her to see, and talking about how his father had just made millions on buying and selling baseball teams all around the world; he even attempted to appeal to her nurturing side, pulling out his phone and showing her pictures of his dogs. The entire time Hikaru noticed his eyes lighting up and a large grin spreading across his face whenever Melanie replied to him or played a song on the violin, he was basically living off of the radiance she emitted and he didn't seem like he was trying to hide it.

"Oh God, he's _in love with her._ " The twins concluded in unison, watching as Melanie had a hard time remembering the note to a song and he got up and moved behind her. He bent down, his face within direct proximity to hers while he moved his arms around both sides of her body and used his hand to hold down the correct note for Melanie. He was more embracing her than he was helping her, and it made the older twin want to gag.

"I'm going to be _sick_ just watching this." Hikaru muttered under his breath.

"You almost sound offended that someone likes Melanie to the extent that he does." Kaoru chuckled to himself. By now he had gotten off of Hikaru but instead of watching the scene before him, he watched his twin's reactions instead. At that moment, his face was twisted up in disgust, almost as if he had just walked by a full garbage can.

"I _am_ offended that someone not _worthy_ of her likes her that much."

"So who exactly is worthy of her, Hikaru? You?"

"Shut up Kaoru, this is _serious."_

Kaoru wasn't sure if he noticed or not, but a small blush started to build in Hikaru's cheeks, something he had never witnessed before. It made him entirely too curious about it. Originally he had thought that Hikaru's jealousy was just that, not wanting his rival to have something that he wanted, but now he fully understood that that was only part of the case; he didn't want Kai to have something that he himself wanted.

"If this bothers you so much, then I'm not going to stop you." Kaoru suggested to him. Hikaru turned to his brother and gave him the puppy dog look, the one he used when he got excited, almost as if to say 'wow! You really mean that?'. It was just trial and error at that point, a way for Hikaru to both understand his feelings all while subconsciously trying to end at the same point: not allow Kai to win.

Hikaru pushed himself off of the floor, interrupting a particularly vomit worthy moment where Kai tried to show Melanie an old scar he had on his chest which just so happened to be along a bottom portion of his abs.

The moment Melanie noticed him, she raised an eye brow in suspicion; whenever Hikaru just appeared like that, nothing good had ever happened.

"Hikaru?"

"Hey, um, your outfit looks very good today." Hikaru tried his best to compliment her, despite the fact that it came out as more of a weak insult than any sort of boast towards her looks.

"Are you sick or something? I thought hosts were supposed to be better than this when it comes to flattering people." Melanie questioned him, earning a very satisfied look from Kai. Hikaru knew that by the look of happiness on his face when Melanie said that that he wasn't particularly fond of him either. That smug gleam in his eye made him want to punch him right then and there but he held his breath for a moment as he could hear the earful she would give him as soon as he did it. _Oh God Hikaru, that is so ru-u-u-ude!_

"Okay then, let me cut to the chase then: can I talk to you for a minute?" Hikaru asked her, watching as Kai started throwing daggers at him with his eyes at the thought that he was trying to take his 'future girlfriend' away which would be accurate if there was even a possibility for that to happen.

Melanie got up from her chair, asked Kai to hold her violin for a moment, and followed Hikaru to the dressing room in the back where she eagerly awaited his explanation. They stood in silence for a few moments, despite Hikaru's keenness to take her away from that prick, he didn't exactly plan the rest of their conversation out that far.

"Is there something wrong, Hikaru?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you flirting with Kai Minami?" Hikaru blurted out suddenly, unable to dance around the bush any longer. Melanie looked stunned, taken aback to say the least.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry," Hikaru corrected himself, "why are you _allowing_ Kai Minami to flirt with you?"

"What are you even talking about? We're not flirting." Melanie replied, turning around and peeking her head through the curtain to see Kai sitting there, smiling widely and bopping his head to the side while he looked over Melanie's violin over and over again. He looked incredibly happy, but not love struck like Hikaru was making it seem like. When she pulled her head back through the curtain and faced Hikaru again, he was giving her a look as if to say 'see what I mean?'.

"You're just too stubborn to see it."

"You're one to talk when it comes to being stubborn," Melanie retorted, rolled her eyes and turned around so she could walk back to her seat only to feel a hand on her shoulder stop her.

"Why did you bring Kai here anyway?" He asked, pushing past her and sticking his head through the curtain to witness Kai still smiling like an idiot. It annoyed Hikaru to see him that blissful, as if his life had reached its pinnacle and couldn't possibly get better, especially since it was over Melanie. In any other scenario, of course, he didn't want to see a guy that he held a grudge on for so long experiencing joy, but somehow the fact that he was that happy over his _friend_ made it that much worse. The way he stared at her made him sick, his eyes lit up and his entire demeanor changed from a stereotypical jock to some sort of love sick puppy, following her every move, complimenting her hair, her face, her smile, even her laugh. But to him, despite the fact that she was stubborn and rude and couldn't be nice to him if she tried, he just _knew_ that she was too good for Kai Minami.

"I was on my way over here from detention and he stopped me in the hallway to ask why I was holding a violin and if I was going to the host club. I ended up telling him that I decided to switch things up today and he just asked if I needed any help, which I really didn't need any but he was insistent on it, so I told him that if he wanted to he could play the cello part that accompanied me." Melanie explained, walking up beside her friend and sticking her head through the curtains with him. Kai was _still_ grinning from ear to ear, except this time he kept constantly checking his watch and threw a quick glance their way, in which both of them retreated back into the room.

"Do you need me to kick him out? I'll do it. I promise. Just say the word." Hikaru insisted, eagerly casting a glare towards the door while he awaited his answer.

"No, that would be rude."

"You're never concerned with being rude when it comes to me."

"That's because you're an asshole majority of the time and you deserve it." Melanie replied, sticking her tongue out at him before breaking through the curtain and walking out. She had thought that with that their conversation had ended but quickly enough she heard Hikaru's footsteps running up behind her.

"Hey! I'm letting you stay at my house during the project, aren't I?" Hikaru argued, pulling at her shoulder for her to face him again. In the process he harshly pulled the fabric of her sleeve which caused Melanie to jump as she started fretting on whether he tore it or not. It was hard to keep their conversation going while she checked for a tear, especially since when Hikaru bent down to her height to check on the blind spot of her arm for her. He had been right at her breast height and Melanie wore her uniform with the first few buttons undone. If he was being honest, he had partly helped because he knew Kai was watching them, and when he got back up he shot a quick glance his way and reveled in the delight he felt when he saw Kai give him a dirty look.

"Anyway, that's just because you don't want to stay at mine so your point is invalid." Melanie pointed out, slowly starting to turn again only to groan loudly when she heard Hikaru speak up.

"Wait one moment-" Hikaru started, only to feel Melanie's finger pressed to his lips in an attempt to get him to hush.

"No no, don't say anything else. I have people to get back to." Melanie cut him off, waiting a moment for him to let the message sink in, and then taking her finger back and turning around, finally walking off, grabbing her violin from Kai, and sitting down with him.

* * *

A:N: Oooooh wowiewowow another one of my favorite chapters finally out for the public to read.

Thanks to MusicOfMadness for editing this chapter again as always, quite lovely of them to do so :)

And as always, aiming for next Monday for the next chapter to be released, see you then!


	9. Chapter 9

Why Me?

Chapter Nine

"Look, I'm only going inside for a few minutes to grab some things and to write a note to my mom telling her where I am, so you can come inside but don't do anything stupid." Melanie warned as she stuck her key into the door of her apartment. As Hikaru walked in, he noticed how similar the space looked to Haruhi's house, despite the more western furniture theme. Instead of a low rising table in the room to the left, there had been an actual dining table adorned with what looked like mountains of paper and several opened letters, and someone sitting at the end of it.

"Hey, Mel." The man greeted her as she walked through the door, frowning when he saw Hikaru follow behind her. "Who is this?"

"It's a friend of mine," she explained before walking over to the table and picking up one of the letters, looking it over for a moment and then setting it back down. "We have a project to work on together, so I'm getting some stuff and then leaving again."

Hikaru stood there, confused as to why some random guy was just sitting in the middle of her dining room and why she didn't care. He was too young to be her father, his face reminded him a lot of Mori, strong and stoic. On the other hand, he didn't look at all like her, so there was no way they were siblings. This man was outrageously tall and had jet black hair with bright blue eyes, nothing even close to Melanie's dark brown hair and eyes, or her short stature. Did Melanie even have any siblings? He remembered her mentioning something about them months ago, but he couldn't quite remember just what she said about them.

So, the only other plausible assumption he could make is that this man must be her boyfriend.

"What's your name?" He finally spoke up, not smiling or giving off any sort of comforting feeling which made him reconsider his previous assumption, Melanie wouldn't go for a guy like him.

"Hikaru Hitachiin." Hikaru answered, not sure of what to say next.

"Liam, if you're about to start interrogating him, you need to stop now." Melanie warned the man as she walked back out of her room with a bag full of stuff.

"I was just going to ask him why he was walking you home is all," Liam replied, watching as she strolled out of her room with a suitcase.

"Why do you even ask? It's none of your business." Hikaru pointed out, taking the bag from Melanie and placing it by the door while she walked back into her room.

"Who do you think you are to Mel to be making that assumption?" Liam asked, scrunching his eye brows and placing his hands together while he studied the man in front of him. He seemed like the type of man to go out and party, and that didn't strike him as a good trait whatsoever. "Are you her boyfriend or something?"

 _Okay, so he's definitely not Melanie's boyfriend then,_ Hikaru thought to himself before he proceeded.

"Who are you to her to even be asking?"

"Would you two cut it out?" Melanie interrupted them as she walked back in with two bottles of what looked like sleeping pills and pain reliever.

"Melanie, who is this guy anyway?" Hikaru asked her, completely out of options in his head to fill in his role.

"Who, Liam? That's my brother." She answered, opening up their refrigerator and pulling out two bottles of water before tossing one to Hikaru.

The shock on his face must have been overly apparent as he heard Liam start laughing.

"You didn't tell your boyfriend here about your brother, Mel? He probably doesn't know about the twins either, does he?" Liam laughed. Hikaru had to admit, when he didn't look like he had a stick up his ass, he was a good-looking guy, especially when he smiled.

Melanie rolled her eyes in annoyance before she continued.

"No, I did but neither you nor the twins look like me, so I can't blame him for assuming that you were some random guy off of the street." Melanie replied, leaning over the counter while she started writing a note to her mother.

"I don't understand what types of genetics you two have for both of you to end up so different." Hikaru mumbled under his breath to not to be heard by Melanie.

"You're one to talk about genetics, Mr. 'I have a twin who is so much like me that we even have the same growing pattern'." Melanie muttered in reply, finishing off her note quickly and then walking over to the table and placing it down. Liam moved his hand over to try and read it, only to pull back when Melanie smacked his arm for being nosy.

"Ouch, that one hurt." Hikaru replied in a monotone voice, moving one hand over his heart and acting like she had shot him through it, though he let a grin spread across his face when he saw Melanie giggling instead of getting angry. Liam watched the interaction between the two, switching his gaze between his sister and her 'friend' while they exchanged tension-filled glances.

"So, I think I'm finally done packing," Melanie broke through his thoughts, picking up the medications from earlier and slipping them into the pocket of her bag, and then beginning to roll it behind her as Hikaru opened the door for her. "Bye, Liam."

"Hey, Mel, wait a moment." Liam stopped her, getting out of his seat and barely making it to the door before she closed it in his face. His little sister looked up at him with an annoyed expression and he heard Hikaru groan from where he was standing, but he felt it was important to bring something up. "Don't let him take control of you, okay?"

Melanie stared at him with a blank face before her cheeks flushed to a dark red and her eyes went wide, hands covering them up while she was stuttered over her words.

"As much as it pains me to ask this, do you have protection? Are you sure this is something you want to go through with?" Liam whispered lowly for her to hear, being as serious as ever.

" _Liam, no!_ Saying I had a project was _not_ code for anything!" Melanie hissed at him, shaking her head violently and wishing she could be anywhere but here with her brother offering her advice on the subject. Liam raised an eye brow and waited for a moment as she kept repeating the same basic phrase over and over again, denying any sort of illicit activities which Liam was sure to happen over the next few days.

"I hope you're not lying, because you know if dad finds out that you're sleeping with-"

" _Dad_ is not going to find out anything because nothing is even going to happen." Melanie muttered angrily at him, turning around and stomping off in the direction of the stairs, leaving a wide-eyed Hikaru to look back at Liam before giving a small wave and following his angry partner to the car.

* * *

Hikaru didn't talk to Melanie in the car or when they walked up the never ending driveway to his house. She didn't seem very angry at first with the conversation she had had with her brother, but as he brought up her father, her face had flushed to an even darker red than before even though in the past thirty minutes, it had just barely managed to fade away.

"Are you better now?" Hikaru asked the small girl next to him who seemed to not even be paying attention to him, but more to the marble columns that were supporting the grand balcony over their head.

"Yeah, there is just a certain amount of time I can spend with Liam before he manages to drive me insane." She sighed heavily, turning away and letting her hand gently touch one of the dark red roses that surrounded the entire front of their house. It was remarkably beautiful considering that it wasn't even the correct time of the year for them to bloom, and the feel of the fleshy petal underneath her fingers was incredibly soft and plush. "You know, if I didn't have such a love for music, I would love to design gardens and then make those designs reality. Flowers show some sort of beauty that I think the world lacks these days."

"I completely agree."

The duo turned their heads toward the door to see a beautiful woman standing there: tall and fashionable with dark brown hair. She was leaning against the door frame and stared directly at Melanie before she spoke.

"Who's your cute friend, Hikaru?"

Melanie looked behind her to see who the lady was staring at before turning back around after hearing her laugh cut through the air.

"Yes, I am talking about you, sweetheart. It's adorable that you would think otherwise." She spoke up again, walking out of the door's frame and passing Hikaru up, giving him a slight pat on the head before stopping two feet in front of Melanie. The clicking of her bright red heels and the powerful way she walked left Melanie looking for the proper words to address her, but she was quickly beaten to it by Hikaru himself.

"She's my friend, Melanie Suzuki." Hikaru cut in, also moving closer to the two ladies before slightly getting in between them in order to increase the space between his friend and his mother.

"Aw, it's not often you bring friends around that aren't the host club, let alone girls!" She chimed happily, grabbing at Melanie's dress and pulling her in for a hug, cooing at how cute and small she was in comparison to them, not even stopping when Hikaru grunted in opposition.

"Mom." He warned, though it came out as more of a whine than a threat. Melanie was taken aback as she heard the word leave his lips. Mom? This young, beautiful, powerful-looking woman was his _mother?_ She didn't seem to look the same as when she last remembered her, but a brief glance toward her roots revealed that perhaps the famous red Hitachiin hair was indeed just hiding underneath a layer of hair dye.

"Hikaru, don't frown all the time, it's not good for the skin." His mother ignored him, taking a step back and starting to pull Melanie with her into the house, leaving her son behind completely. As she passed into the Hitachiin's home, she immediately noted how the house was at least three times as big on the inside than it was on the outside. What would normally be a living room was actually large enough to host a ball, with plenty of windows looking out into the yard to reveal a beautiful garden, pool, and of course, tennis courts. Sitting in the middle of the room on one of the enormous couches was Kaoru, partly asleep, yet still not letting go of the magazine in his hand while there seemed to be a small animal pressed up against him. While Yuzuha dragged her closer toward the couch, she was able to closer inspect it, and it was indeed a very small cat.

"Kaoru! Were you aware that Hikaru had a _friend_ outside of the host club?" Yuzuha asked the twin excitedly, rubbing his hair until his eyes slowly fluttered fully awake to see Melanie standing right by his mother with a very annoyed looking Hikaru in tow.

"For the record, Melanie is also in the host club technically, so I'm sorry to say that I wasn't aware." Kaoru joked with his mother, carefully picking up the sleeping cat beside him and moving over, lightly tapping the spot next to him for Melanie to sit down next to him which she gratefully accepted.

"I've never seen or heard of her before though, and that's all that counts," The twins' mother replied, sitting down on an armchair and looking at her fingernails briefly before she reached into her purse on the table next to her and pulled out a nail file.

"Are you kidding me? Hikaru was just talking about her this morn-" Kaoru started, releasing a loud yell when Hikaru came up behind him and hit his head hard enough for Melanie to hear. The small kitten that was in Kaoru's lap had jumped off in fear and ran over to her instead, causing both of the twins to look at each other in surprise as it nuzzled its head against Melanie's hand and buried its body in between the folds of her dress.

"Oh, it must have slipped my mind," Yuzuha lied, taking a sip of her tea and watching as her annoyed older son sat down on the ground next to Melanie's feet and watched as the cat purred against her and eagerly nudged her hand over and over again in order to make sure she didn't stop petting him. "So, Melanie, as much as I already love having you in my home, why are you here?"

"Um, well, Hikaru and I are partners for a project," Melanie started.

"I don't remember a project being assigned?" Kaoru interrupted her, also staring intently at the cat while he paid attention.

"It's for my human studies class, we have to raise a child together, but since there is an uneven number of students in my class, she asked Hikaru to come in and do the project with me." Melanie started to explain, feeling the nervousness in her stomach start to make its way up her throat.

The room was for the most part silent, except for the sudden burst of laughter that left Kaoru's lips as he fully registered the situation.

"You two have to raise a _child_ together? That is the _funniest_ , most _ironic_ thing I've heard all day." Kaoru laughed harder, slowly slipping off of the couch as his face started to grow redder. Yuzuha didn't seem confused at the notion Kaoru was getting at and instead just sipped her tea once more.

"I don't understand, what is so ironic about it?" Melanie asked Kaoru once he died down, only to have Hikaru interrupt her instead.

"There is absolutely nothing ironic about it, Kaoru just likes to be an ass." He muttered under his breath, pushing himself off of the floor and walking toward the stairs leading up to his bedroom. Quickly enough, he heard footsteps following him, and a small bit of laughter between his mother and his brother and he just knew that it was directed at him.

As he pushed open the door and made his way into his room, he could hear Melanie whisper a small 'wow' underneath her breath when she entered. She let her eyes scan every corner of the vast room and eventually helped her find a place to sit on at the end of Hikaru's bed while he laid across it behind her.

"Your room is _huge_."

"Is it? I've been thinking that Kaoru's room is bigger," Hikaru replied nonchalantly, taking a ball and tossing it in the air toward the ceiling, tossing fast glances in his friend's direction as she continued to eye every corner of the room. "But that might just be because his bed is smaller."

"Speaking of beds, where am I going to sleep?" Melanie asked, finally turning around and looking at Hikaru just as he averted his eyes from her back.

"Where do you want to sleep?"

"Preferably in a bed for one thing," Melanie said, already stopping any sort of ideas Hikaru had about her possibly sleeping outside.

"Well, as of right now, all of our staff is renting out all the available bedrooms," he started as he caught the ball in his hand and put it on the bed right beside him before pushing himself up until he was sitting right side up. "So, we'll have to ask one of them to just stay with a relative or something."

"That's horrible, if that's their bedroom, I wouldn't want to take it from them." She argued, placing her feet on top of the bed and crossing her legs as she stared intently at her underclassman.

"So then, if you're so smart, what do you suggest?"

The question struck Melanie like a bullet as she realized he had a point. What was she supposed to do then? Sleep on the floor? Find a soft pile of grass outside? She thought it over for a moment, going through all of the ridiculous possibilities until she realized one fortunate thing. The only person she wouldn't mind inconveniencing, was sitting right next to her.

"Just let me sleep right here."

"Here?"

"Yes, as in this bed that we're both sitting on."

"And then what about me? Do I have to sleep on the couch in my own house?" Hikaru scoffed, glaring at the dimpled girl next to him. She was absolutely _crazy_ if she thought that was going to happen, even more than he initially thought.

"You sleep here too. I don't care about sharing a bed," Melanie replied, getting up for a moment and stretching before heading over to Hikaru's bathroom with her suitcase and closing the door behind her, locking it shut.

"Wait one moment! You can't just come in to my house and start assuming things like that! Who said _I'm_ okay with sharing a bed?" Hikaru exclaimed, walking up to the door and waiting for a reply. He could hear what sounded like the large thump of fabric hit the tile floor and he immediately took a step back right as Melanie opened the door again. She was standing there, her body mostly hidden behind the door and her face and exposed shoulder peeking out to the side, but on the floor Hikaru saw her dress in a giant ball just like he expected, and he was slightly amazed at how she had the guts to open the door and face him when she wasn't even dressed.

"I'm sorry, Hikaru. I just figured that as a guest it was priority to make me comfortable first, you know, since you decided that we couldn't stay at my house after all. I'm sure Kaoru would accept you into his room if you asked him though." She replied sweetly before closing the door again and continued changing clothes. Hikaru stood there, tripping over his words and attempting to come up with a coherent statement to express whatever it was that he felt toward her at that moment, but came up shorthanded before the short girl opened the door once again to reveal a completely new person. Her hair was tied up in a bun and her dress had been replaced with a simple pair of blue shorts and a slightly loose t-shirt. Her outfit looked like a more feminine version of Haruhi's preferred out-of-school outfit, but seeing her in it for the first time had caught him off guard to the point where he had completely missed most of what she was telling him.

"... and so it's either sleep here with me or with your brother, I don't mind either."

"Fine, do whatever you want, but I'm not leaving _my_ room."

Melanie shrugged her shoulders before she went over to her school bag and picked up their 'child'. The doll was actually very dangerous in response to their overall grade, seeing that the school had put extra money into them to make sure that you weren't able to cheat the system. It had been set to activate six hours after they received it and was able to tell whether the area it was in was appropriate for the baby. It needed to be fed and changed every few hours and bathed every day, and if that wasn't enough of a challenge, it had been programmed to wake up at random times of the night, so it was guaranteed to keep them up.

"And where do we plan on keeping this?" Melanie asked him, looking it over for a moment and brushing the fake hair off of the fake baby's face.

"I don't know, we don't have any cribs since Kaoru and I never had other siblings so..." Hikaru started to trail off, leaving his sentence in the air when he watched Melanie walk slowly toward him, or rather, the door behind him.

"I saw you had a large box in the hallway, is it empty?"

"Yeah, but what does that-"

"Do you have any spare pillows?"

"Sure, but why-"

"It doesn't matter, just find them." Melanie rushed over his questions, placing both hands around the box and tugging it into Hikaru's room. The younger one of the duo attempted to wrap his head around what his friend could possibly be doing, but instead grabbed onto the box and also started to pull it, causing it to glide with ease over the floor.

"You're really something, do you know that?" Hikaru shook his head as they finally put the box in the space in front of his window. Melanie looked slightly exhausted but it didn't stop her from scoffing loudly enough for Hikaru to give her his attention.

"I'm fairly certain that I'm just as high maintenance as you are, but let's put that aside," She said, tugging on his jacket and pulling him toward the door with her. "Our child needs something to sleep on and pillows will be good enough to fool the little thing to thinking it's comfortable."

"I think I remember the maids putting them in the master closet down the hall."

"Then that's where we're going to go."

They continued down the hall until they got to the master closet, two large double doors which, when opened, revealed a room twice as large as Hikaru's bedroom, stocked from floor to ceiling with various goods. But in an enormous box directly to the right of what looked like a large stock pile of fake flowers, was an entire arsenal of pillows. The duo walked up to it and started to dig up as many of the pillows of they could before making their way back to their room and placing all of them on the floor right in front of the box from earlier.

"So, what now?"

"We're going to make a crib," Melanie answered, taking one foot and lifting it over the high walls of the box, and then taking the other foot and doing the same. "Hand me a pillow."

Hikaru looked skeptically at her, meeting her with an insistent gaze before he gave in and handed her the largest pillow in the stockpile. She placed in on the floor horizontally and reached her hand out for another one before placing that on the ground with it. Soon enough, with the help of a small amount of stomping, the pillows had made a nice makeshift mattress for the doll and with Hikaru's help to steady her, Melanie had gotten back out in order to appreciate her work.

"It's not that bad," she beamed, setting the child on top of the pillows and then smiling as she realized the last hour had easily paid off.

"I can't believe I have to have this sit in my room for an entire week." Hikaru muttered under his breath, turning around and taking off his jacket, placing it over a chair and then laying on his bed again, closing his eyes and ceasing to fight his drowsiness anymore just to feel the thump of someone laying beside him.

"I don't think it's going to be that bad, Hikaru." Melanie promised as she closed her eyes sleepily and sunk farther into the bed.

* * *

A:N: Sorry I was a bit late, I am actually vacationing for the next two weeks and yesterday was the 4th of July so I didn't even anticipate that I wasn't going to be able to upload on time. With that said, I probably won't be able to upload next Monday since I will be on vacation until next Saturday, but my uploading schedule will resume the following week! Sorry for the inconvenience!

I do hope you enjoyed the chapter though, and thank you to everyone who favorited or reviewed or followed! I've never received so much attention to a story so it means a lot that this story that I've spent _so much_ time on, is being so well received. Thank you so much! (And also thank you to MusicOfMadness for editing again!)


	10. Chapter 10

Why Me?

Chapter Ten

The next morning Melanie barely managed to open the door of the school without the help of Hikaru as his car dropped the two of them (and Kaoru) off. Had she known _just_ how hard it was to sleep when you had a fake, yet completely realistic baby keeping you up all night, she might have actually begged Kaoru to let her sleep with him instead, an opportunity she couldn't even _imagine_ how Hikaru passed it up yesterday.

On the bright side, that day had happened to fall on one of the most spectacular days of the school year: casual day. Any sort of school uniforms weren't required and many of the students were walking around school in normal,yet exceedingly expensive, pants and shirts, including her and the Hitachiins. Her ensemble had attracted Hikaru's attention that morning when she exited the bathroom with a dark red sweater and a plain pair of blue jeans, completely contrasting his still extravagant taste for wearing layers of thin clothing to show off different patterns and color combinations, not that any of his clients noticed the overly apparent effort put into his outfit.

"Hey, Melanie!"

Melanie and Hikaru turned their attention around to see who the familiar voice belonged to, only for both of them to be surprised to see none other than Kai Minami running towards them with a shirt balled up in his hand.

"Kai?" She replied, partly confused on what to say but nevertheless acting like his presence didn't make her friend next to her start to scowl.

"I haven't seen you in a while! How have you been?"

"I've been good, I'm just adjusting to my rearranged schedule is all-"

"That's so cool, but hey, can you do me a favor?" He interrupted her, staring so intently into her eyes she almost felt embarrassed to have Hikaru right next to her watching their conversation go down.

"Why can't you just do whatever it is yourself?" Hikaru asked him harshly, frowning and silently fuming over his not forgotten rivalry with his upperclassman. Kai looked to the left and made eye contact with Hikaru before rolling his eyes slowly and shaking his head, ignoring his presence long enough for him to start up again, only to be caught by Melanie's voice.

"I can handle this, Hikaru. Go to class before you're late." She commanded, tugging at his blazer slightly in order to make sure that he focused on her, and then locking their stares into an intense staring contest, the world around them awkwardly sitting at a stand still until Hikaru closed his eyes for a moment and sighed heavily. He turned his body in the direction of the corner leading to his classroom and slowly started his descent away from Melanie and Kai, much to Kai's over obvious amusement.

"Anyway, what was that favor about?" She asked again, turning around and staring up into Kai's bright green eyes for a moment, or were they blue? Perhaps a muddled, yet somehow still vibrant gray?

"I was just wondering, there's a really big game going on today and it's a tradition that all of the baseball players get someone close to them to wear their jerseys on that day for good luck," He started, holding out the dark blue jersey for Melanie to grab.

She stood there silently for a moment before allowing her small hand to reach out and touch the fabric of the shirt gently, letting the cloth slip between two of her fingers right as Kai let it go. She caught it with her other hand again as it started it's descent to the ground and let out a sigh of relief as she had avoided an expensive dry cleaning bill.

"Are you sure you want me to wear it? I'm sure there are plenty of other girls who would be willing to wear it." Melanie chuckled awkwardly as she avoided eye contact with her upperclassman.

"But I want _you_ to wear it." He insisted, leaning against the wall of the classroom they were up against and allowing his light brown hair to fall in his face slightly before he raised his hand and combed it through his hair.

"I-I really don't-"

"Please?"

Melanie switched her weight from one foot to the other as she thought about it, her need to be polite was taking over and she had opened her mouth to accept his offer right as the bell cut off her reply and Kai looked at his watch impatiently.

"Sorry, I have to get to class, but I'll see you at the game today, right?" He asked as he slowly started to walk backwards, turned around as soon as she tried to reply, and then disappeared around the corner to the third year hallway.

As Melanie walked into the host club room that afternoon, she was hit by a wave of heat and the distinct smell of coconut and mango's, something she could only assume was part of the days cosplay theme.

"Mel-chan!"

The loud pitter patter of feet grew continuously louder as Hunny ran right toward her, dragging what looked like a rather large grass skirt behind him.

"Hunny? What are you doing with that?"

"This is your outfit for today! Don't you remember Tamaki saying a few weeks ago that you were going to finally be included in our cosplays?" Hunny answered, holding up the attire which actually wasn't a skirt at all, but instead a dark, one shouldered dress and a bright red flower crown.

"I must have forgotten," She started as Hunny pushed the garments into her hands. Melanie looked around the room for a golden blond mop of hair, and then politely excused herself as she made her way towards her boss.

As Tamaki saw his classmate approach, he started tsking slightly, but perked up briefly when he saw that she had already found her outfit for the day.

"I was just thinking about how you had some nerve skipping out on the host club like that,"

Melanie's face felt like it was burning as she realized that she really had been late, not to mention that Tamaki had noticed before her.

" _I swear that wasn't the case at all, I-_ "

"Don't worry, I can see by your jersey you probably have some very important business to attend to, isn't that right?" Tamaki commented, picking up his tea cup and sipping on his tea. He had seen the situation that went down that morning concerning the shirt and he knew as well as anyone else in the club that Melanie didn't really have it in her heart to say no to Kai.

She didn't reply to him because she already knew that Tamaki was well aware of what she was going to ask him so she instead decided to wait patiently for his answer, like a little puppy awaiting a treat.

"I'm sure Kai is expecting you at the game, isn't he?" Tamaki finally spoke up again, taking the spoon that was on his plate and stirring his drink with it while Melanie nodded her head.

"Yea, he is."

"Then you should probably get over there, shouldn't you?" Tamaki smiled slightly as he took another sip. Melanie bowed low in front of him before turning around and walking towards the door, carefully opening it and slipping through the crack before disappearing again for the day.

He leaned back against the pink cushion of his couch as he enjoyed a few more moments to himself while he was guest free, only to have his silence interrupted again.

"Where is Melanie going?" Hikaru asked nonchalantly as him and Kaoru walked around the sides of Tamaki's couch and sat down with him.

"She had a previous arrangement to get to." Tamaki answered, feeling slightly more annoyed that his peace and quiet had been shattered again.

"Arrangement? But it's a club day. She would _never_ skip a club day."

"I guess you don't know her as well as you think you do then." Tamaki replied, taking another sip of his tea before casting a quick glance towards his underclassman who seemed to be vaguely offended by Tamaki's statement.

Hikaru scoffed loudly at the comment while Kaoru stood right behind him with a cocked eyebrow, just waiting to see where Tamaki planned to strike Hikaru next.

"I'm sure I know her a bit better than you do," Hikaru rolled his eyes before gazing over and looking at the silent piano bench which on any other normal day would be easily playing it's fifth song by now.

Tamaki never replied, only sipping again at his tea and refusing to make eye contact with either of the twins. Instead he started to scan the room and search for his precious little daughter Haruhi, who was pouring more tea for her guests and telling a story about how her mother and father had used to take her to the park all the time and see who could swing the highest. Just as he was starting to drift off into his own make believe world again, he heard the twin's footsteps disappear from behind him.

Melanie had been sitting at the game for almost an hour and despite the fact that she obviously _loved_ sitting in the middle of the 'Kai Minami Fan Club' (which consisted of a rather large group of girls all trying to get closer to the action: the "way Kai's hair flows when he runs"), she was desperately waiting for the last minutes of the game to pass by so she would finally be able to get back to the host club.

Or at least she had thought so for most of the time.

"Hey Melanie!" Kai yelled from the baseball pit right in front of the stands, garnering not just the attention of Melanie, but also all of the girls around her. She looked over the railing on down to the ground where almost five feet away was Kai, looking up at her and grinning widely. The girls around Melanie all screamed, causing her ear drums to start hurting, but Kai looked so genuinely happy and luminous that she couldn't help but let her mouth start to form a smile back, dimples showing and face glowing in return.

"Hey Kai!"

He took off his baseball cap momentarily and ran his tanned hand through his light hair, pushing it back before placing his cap back on and starring back up at her, eyes slightly squinting to avoid the sun's rays.

"How about we go out after the game?" He asked, only to be cut off by the eruption of screams again from all the girls around her. Melanie put both hands over her ears, but simply nodded in agreement as he flashed her another dazzling smiles and started walking away again towards his other teammates.

The surrounding noise didn't seem to die down, so Melanie started to push her way back through the crowd, inhaling a breath of fresh air when she wasn't drowning in expensive perfume and hair spray.

"Well you don't seem like you enjoyed your time in Kai Minami's fangirl pit very well." Haruhi interrupted her thoughts as she walked up with Tamaki as the rest of the host club seemed to drag far behind them.

"It's too exhausting, I'm just not cut out to worship the lifestyle of the rich and beautiful," Melanie joked around while Tamaki scoffed dramatically and pretended that he didn't hear it.

"No wonder you and the twins get along so well, all of you are out to hurt my precious feelings." Tamaki started saying as he wiped away a tear from his right eye.

"Tamaki, you know I would _never_ do that to you," Melanie acted with him, holding a hand over her heart as she pretended to feel offended by his statement.

"I can never be so sure anymore, the closer Hikaru and you get, the more you start to act like each other." Tamaki tsked her before starting to walk away towards his best friend, Kyoya. Melanie raised an eyebrow as she started to wonder if he was just being over dramatic again or made a sly attempt at being passive aggressive.

Standing a bit farther back from the group was Hikaru, pouting and refusing to make eye contact with his senpai as Melanie looked towards him and waited for his usual input on any given situation. After a few moments, she grew tired of waiting and finally turned back around and moved down the steps of the state-of-the-art stadium to her former seat, Hikaru catching the movement from the corner of his eye and then turning his head to completely look at the back of her, pushing and shoving her way through the crowd to her spot of honor, specifically reserved for her by Kai.

 _Kai._

Just _thinking_ his name made Hikaru's blood boil.

So he sat down in one of the seats next to his brother and Hunny, and attempted to enjoy what he thought might possibly have been the most boring sport on the face of the Earth.

A few rows down from him, Melanie thought the same thing.

Every thing that happened managed to confuse her, the running of the bases, the switching of the teams, but she tried her best to at least seem interested because she knew that Kai had been hyped up for this game for a while now and they were playing a very important team. After what she assumed was the last inning, she noticed Kai get up to bat and everyone around her stood up, eagerly watching as he tapped his bat on the ground a few times and got into position. Melanie joined them, for the first time in hours she had actually been curious as to what would happen next.

The pitcher threw the ball once and it zoomed right past Kai's head. The pitcher wound up and then threw again, much to the same effect. On the last pitch though, Kai swung the bat and it made a sickening crack as it collided with the ball and sent it flying farther and farther away, out into the stands on the far side of the arena and winning Ouran Academy the game as he started lightly jogging the bases. The stadium collapsed into a roar of applause and cheers from the girls around her, which even Melanie had to join in with of course.

As Kai crossed home plate again, he immediately looked through the crowd to find Melanie again, and just as he found her, he started smiling widely. It was the type of smile that made your day brighter, the one you couldn't resist smiling back at, so of course that's what Melanie did, and her's only grew bigger as he started walking over to her, causing the crowd around her to somehow get even louder.

"Hey Mel, why don't you lean over the fence a little bit, I have something to give you." Kai started up as the group of girls finally got quiet enough for him to talk. Melanie raised an eyebrow at this, the row that she was on was low enough for her to lean over and be sort of close to him, but she didn't know where he was going with this.

So Melanie leaned over the fence, her head still a bit higher up than Kai's and him sticking out his hand and motioning for her to keep going.

"Just a bit more."

She felt uncomfortable as she felt her feet barely touching the ground and all of her weight continue shifting over the railing, and just when she thought she was going to fall over, Kai's hand came from around his back and held a baseball, perfectly eye level with the both of them, and slightly dirty from its use.

"I brought you a small gift."

Melanie's expression didn't initially change as she looked at the brown-ish ball in front of her, and then Kai's face behind it, his eyes reflecting as the sun hit them and the black face paint that had been spread on his cheeks was smudged all over his cheeks, but somehow he smelled sweet, not at all like the fresh scent of sweat, more like the type of smell that would hit you if you went into a Sephora store.

"Was this the winning baseball?" Melanie finally asked him as she slowly reached out one of her hands and took it, rubbing its smooth surface and feeling the dirt underneath her fingers.

"Of course it was." He chirped up. Melanie let her eyes trail up again and examined Kai's facial features again, the ruggedness of his jaw, the slight bend of his nose that only seemed to make him more attractive, the way his hair just slightly peeked out of his cap one more time and fell in the way of his shining green eyes. No wonder he was considered to be par with the men in the host club, he was just as beautiful as them when he had just played a baseball game and was covered in red dirt from head to toe.

As Melanie started to get lost in thought, Kai quickly placed a kiss on her cheek, the sudden act catching off guard and causing her body weight to dramatically shift as her feet lifted off the ground and she realized very quickly what was happening.

She was going to fall over the fence.

Within a moment, she was sending her good byes to her mom as she felt the many emotions of anxiety mixed with adrenaline course through her veins, her feet completely over the railing now. All she could hear was the sudden screaming of someone in the crowd and footsteps start to run down the stairs before she closed her eyes one last time and thought of how she would have a new broken arm soon.

That was at least, until she felt someone suddenly catch her.

As Melanie layed completely still, she didn't dare open her eyes and see all the people in the crowd who could have possibly witnessed that. She didn't dare open them just to see Kai staring right at her and wondering about how she could have possibly been clumsy enough to fall over the railing. If ever there was a moment where she wished she could simply disappear to some far away pacific island that no one had ever heard of, it was that exact moment.

"You're not falling anymore, you can finally open your eyes." Kai's warm voice suddenly graced her ears, slightly chuckling under his breath as he watched Melanie's eyes slowly flutter open while she released a deep breath.

"I thought I was a goner." She laughed dryly under her breath. The experience left her heart racing and she knew that the skin on her cheeks was probably blazing bright red, but she would of course just blame it on the wild afternoon sun.

"I would never let you fall." Kai promised. His hands felt secure around her legs and her torso as she started to relax a little bit, the words leaving his lips gave her a sense of peace as she registered them. Melanie finally allowed herself to look off into the crowd, scanning the faces of the fan club girls as they all pulled out tissues and were sobbing amongst one another, the other students gathered around seemed more or less unaffected by the situation, while the host club all wore smirks on their faces, with the exception of Hikaru, who looked exceedingly bored, yet angry.

She turned her head again and faced Kai, who was still looking at her with beaming eyes and a gracious smile, which she couldn't help but return, only to be surprised when he slowly leaned in and let his lips touch her cheek for the slightest moment, causing a sudden uproar from the group of girls again.

Melanie dropped from his arms in surprise, her growing anxiety over the attention she was receiving taking over once more as she couldn't even look Kai in the eyes anymore after that. She bowed low, gave her thank yous once again, and started to make her way behind the dugout and out of the stadium, where her face showed embarrassment, but her heart was racing a mile a minute.

Once she found her way back to the music room, she quickly shut the door behind her and sank on the floor knees first before she allowed her entire body to hit the salmon colored tile and just lay there, her hot skin feeling absolutely _amazing_ against the cool floor. She felt slightly dirty from the orange dirt that lined the baseball field that was on her face and underneath her fingernails, and the fact that she had just run away from someone who had actually stopped her from breaking something made her want to scream, but somehow she had decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to be pegged as the girl who started going insane; not yet at least.

She felt a deep pain go through her foot as the huge door leading into the room swung open with brutal force and hit it but she held her tongue before she started screaming bloody murder.

"Why are _you_ in here?"

 _Oh God, him of all people? Right now?_

"I also work in this club, Hikaru." Melanie replied, not bothering to raise her voice despite projecting it towards the floor.

"I'm not dumb, I know that. I mean why are you in here instead of off on some stupid date with Kai?" Hikaru continued, walking through the door frame and over towards Tamaki's couch, settling down on it and picking one of the ruby red roses out of the vase that held numerous of Tamaki's favorite flowers.

"Please, that's the last thing I would want to talk about, okay? I feel so stupid right now and I just want to feel ashamed in peace." Melanie sulked on, turning onto her back and staring up at the stark white ceiling. She could hear Hikaru's slow, steady breathing and tried to match it in an effort to calm her nerves.

"Just because you fell over the railing?" Hikaru replied, running one of his fingers over the flesh of a rose petal. The entire game was a series of tiresome episodes that Hikaru wished he could have missed instead of witness, but the moment that time seemed to stop and revolve around Melanie, he did too. His eyes locked on to her as she started to lean over the railing and get closer and closer to _Kai._

The name left such a disgusting taste in his mouth.

But he continued staring at the pair, as Melanie was blushing and giggling at all of the shit leaving his mouth and he looked at her like a sad puppy, Hikaru couldn't help but also be mesmerized in the moment, especially once he noticed her start to get on her tippy toes in order to lean over more. The second her tiny foot left the ground, he left his seat, running down the stairs and yelling for her to watch out, only to stop in his tracks when he saw that a mere second later, Kai had already caught her. The people that weren't staring at that fiasco were staring at him, the one guy who got up and started running in order to save the girl, only to get beaten by someone else.

"... it was just so _embarrassing,_ Hikaru, I don't even want to show my face anymore." Melanie finished just as Hikaru started to pay attention again.

"Tell me about it," He mumbled under his breath, placing the flower back in the vase and standing back up again, letting his shoes echo throughout the room as he made his way over to the teenager lying on the floor, hands in pockets and looking down on her as she blinked her eyes repeatedly and waited for him to say something.

"Hikaru?"

"I don't know about you, but I just want to go home," Hikaru started, holding out his hand for Melanie to take and then pulling her up. The thought of leaving the school caused her to glow, she was emotionally exhausted from the day and nothing sounded better than just not being anywhere _close_ to the school.

"Nothing would make me happier."

* * *

As they arrived back at the Hitachiin mansion, Hikaru basically kicked the door to his room open while Melanie quietly followed inside. Before they could even set their school bags down, a loud cry erupted from the far side of the room, causing Hikaru to groan.

"Won't that thing just shut up!" He practically yelled, walking over to the large cardboard box and peeking inside. The doll's plastic eyes were wide open and it's mechanical mouth was moving inhumanly while the fake screams continued.

Melanie joined him at the make shift crib and wordlessly picked the baby up and held it awkwardly in her arms. How was she supposed to know what was wrong with it? Was it hungry? Tired? Why were babies so unpredictable?

"I... have absolutely no idea what to do." She admitted, looking over at Hikaru's expressionless face as he continued to stare at it.

"Why don't we just throw it out the window?"

"Would you do that to your actual child?" She asked, slightly concerned at the horrible suggestion. Hikaru didn't reply, but a low, incoherent mumble was enough to give her his answer.

The baby continued to cry and they just stood there, looking at it and waiting for the dreadful wailing to stop, until Kaoru walked in with the cat in his arms.

"Natsu and I are trying to take a nap and your dumb doll is making that really hard," He complained as he walked closer to the two and briefly looked at their dumbfounded faces. Melanie, who he knew was nurturing at heart, looked absolutely torn by the fact that this project had left her clueless.

"Natsu?" She raised an eyebrow.

"My cat."

Her head nodded briefly, but she stared again at the baby in her arms and then started to walk towards the bathroom. Hikaru didn't move initially, but once Melanie yelled at him to help her, the both of them joined her.

"What are you doing?" Hikaru interrupted her pathetic grunts as she couldn't even properly open the package full of diapers.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Well for one thing, you're definitely not about to open that when you're not even tearing at the right end."

When she looked down and noticed that there was a huge arrow that insisted that she opened the package on the opposite end, her cheeks went a bright shade of red as she flipped it around and ripped open the plastic in one try.

"That's much easier, huh?" Hikaru teased lightly as he walked farther into the bathroom. Melanie laughed dryly before throwing a diaper at him and watching as he fumbled to catch it.

"Since you're so smart, you can go ahead and put the first diaper on." She insisted. Hikaru scoffed loudly in response. "Unless of course, you can't even put on a simple diaper on your own baby."

Kaoru watched from the doorway, highly amused and still petting the small feline in his arms as his twin refused to back down from the challenge of their friend. He was even amazed that he at least attempted it considering that it took him five minutes and a pair of scissors to even get the last diaper off.

"Hika, do you need some help there?" He asked playfully once Hikaru pulled out a roll of tape to try to get the worn out adhesives to stick.

Melanie also watched, biting her bottom lip to keep from laughing as Hikaru yelled profanity at his younger brother's teasing. When he almost put the diaper on inside out though, she intervened.

"Wait a moment, you're doing it wrong." She interrupted him, taking one of his hands off of the baby and then beginning to flip it again.

"No! I know what I'm doing!" Hikaru insisted, trying to regain control of the child but one look at the way Mel's eyebrows were raised and he felt like he needed to finally back off.

"Hikaru, you don't always have to be so stubborn, it's okay to admit that you're clueless sometimes." She replied, looking up at his face with her eyebrows slightly furrowed but still a sort of concern in her eyes. He felt kind of sheepish looking into them.

"But I'm not clueless..." He started to mumble, only to see one of her eyebrows lift up again. She didn't even have to say anything because he could already tell what she was thinking: 'You're proving my point'.

So she finished putting on the diaper properly using a little bit of common sense, but the baby continued its high-pitched squeal.

"Do you think it's hungry?" Hikaru mumbled, just loud enough that Melanie could hear as he picked the baby up and stared at its brown hair.

"It's always worth a shot." She agreed, reaching under the sink and pulling out the fake baby bottle, offering it to Hikaru silently while he momentarily didn't take it.

"You want _me_ to feed it?" He blinked once. Twice.

"Of course, this is a group effort after all." She giggled quietly and then placed the bottle in Hikaru's hand, turning her giggle into a louder, more audible laugh as he stood there awkwardly staring at it.

"Hikaru, I hate to break it to you but feeding the baby is probably the easiest part when it's not even requiring real baby food." Kaoru mentioned from the doorway. His arm had quickly become tired, but Natsu had fallen asleep on it and he couldn't bring himself to let him down.

So in the brightly lit bathroom, Hikaru shifted the entire weight of the doll to one of his arms and with the other one, slowly and carefully pushed the nozzle of the bottle up to its mouth. When he heard the imitation suckling sounds, he released a sigh of relief.

"It's not that hard... is it?" Melanie asked, the last part coming out as more of question of fear rather than a reassuring pat on the back.

"I guess not." He admitted, mostly just glad that the thing had finally stopped screaming its mechanical lungs out. He glanced at Melanie again and she was smiling. It looked so genuine and sweet that he couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed looking at it, almost as if he had interrupted a private moment that he wasn't supposed to witness. On the outside though, he did let a partial grin start to form on his face too.

When the baby had finally stopped feeding, it slowly closed it's eyes again and became completely silent. Melanie and Hikaru breathed long, drawn out sighs of relief before placing it back into it's makeshift crib.

"For a moment I thought you two were dysfunctional enough to actually give up," Kaoru admitted, backing up towards the door while the two of them shot him dirty looks. "but you didn't and I'm very proud of you two for finally working together."

Hikaru complained loudly at his brother about his lack of support and belief in him, but Melanie started to crawl into bed, ignoring the two as they had their normal sibling bickering and letting her eyes start to shut from exhaustion.

"...and lastly I-" Hikaru continued ranting only to be silenced by Kaoru's wordless head movements, gesturing him towards his bed. Hikaru turned around, noticing the soft snores that were leaving Melanie's mouth as she laid on his bed in a fetal position fast asleep.

When he turned back around, Kaoru was already leaving the room, letting a yawn escape his lips as he went through the doorway and left his twin by himself.

So after Hikaru got ready to go to bed, he walked past her side of the bed and mumbled quietly as he left the room and came back with a blanket. He placed it over her uncovered body before he turned off the lights and fell asleep next to her.

* * *

A:N: So my vacation is basically over now, and while I enjoyed it immensely, school is coming up so I'm slowly shifting my priorities once again. I decided to upload this chapter early since it was finished and it's been almost two weeks anyway, and I hope you liked it!

I'm looking forward to the response as always :)


	11. Chapter 11

Why Me?

Chapter Eleven

After the events that had passed the day before, Melanie would have done absolutely anything to not have to return to the school the next day. From the moment she woke up at three in the morning she started the process of dreading the day before her, from having to avoid Kai to the amount of dirty looks she received in the hallway reaching an all time high, she couldn't think of a single reason to actually go to school. Well, other than the fact that Hikaru was also in a rather shitty mood, which meant that she at least wasn't suffering by herself.

As Melanie took a single step out of her last class of the day, the first person she saw in her direct line of sight was of course the spectacularly bright eyed Kai. The smile he wore on his face was so beaming and white, it could have blinded her from all the way down the hallway, which she decided to use as a reason to turn the corner and take the long way to her morning classroom.

Two corridors later and Melanie took a left, only to see Kai there once again, talking to a few of the baseball players who were leaning against the wall with their hands in their pockets. Many of them looked completely different than when they were in uniform on the field, but obviously Melanie didn't look any different as one of them spotted her and loudly pointed her out to Kai. He immediately turned around and flashed another grin as his eyes locked with Melanie's. Her heart pounded harder in her chest, threatening to give out at any second as she saw Kai take steps that would bring him closer to her. Melanie gave quick glances to the side as she searched for an escape plan, but was not blessed with one fast enough as Kai took his final steps towards Melanie, and therefor caused her soul to threaten to leave her body.

"Hey Mel! I didn't even get the chance to say anything else after the game yesterday!" Kai brought up as he cocked a single eye brow in suspicion. Melanie hadn't even bothered to try and make her escape seem more non chalant, she just felt like she was suffocating every second she was around him and there was no way to get around that.

"I'm sorry, I could barely keep my eyes open after the game. I've been having trouble sleeping lately." Melanie attempted to laugh it off, but she really just seemed to pull off an awkward chuckle instead. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hikaru's stunningly ginger hair and prayed that he would come rescue her from another one of these situations.

"I understand, baseball can do that to people." Kai started, leaning slightly against the wall and folding his arms across his chest. It made him seem larger than he really was, almost intimidatingly large. "but as long as you're awake now, I'd like to take you out Friday."

Melanie felt her heart stop in her chest, the world around her froze and it took her a few moments to really realized what this meant. Ever since Hikaru brought it up, she could tell that Kai liked her but she still managed to deny. She didn't want to like him back, and the last thing she wanted to do was break his heart so she had convinced herself that Kai was simply super friendly, even with the sudden kiss on the cheek the day before; now that he was asking her out on a _date,_ she couldn't take it anymore: the constant denial, leading him on, she just wanted this to be over with.

"I can't." She answered, slowly and clearly as not to mess up her rejection. Kai blinked, once, twice. He wasn't even really sure if he had heard her correctly.

"Excuse me?"

"Listen Kai, I know that you have managed to harbor feelings for me but it just won't work, okay?" Melanie continued, trying her best to maintain eye contact but failing miserably.

Kai stood still, the people around the two kept moving and keeping to themselves, but Kai was like a solid statue among them. There was an eery silence between the two as Melanie couldn't figure out what to say next and Kai refused to speak, at least until a sudden thought popped into his head.

"Is it because of _Hikaru?_ " He asked, his voice low yet wavering, almost like he was on the verge of shouting. Melanie cocked her head to the side as she was taken aback by his words. _What did Hikaru of all people have to do with this?_

"No, why would you even ask that-" Melanie started, only to be cut off by another sudden outburst.

"Oh _God Melanie!_ Please don't play dumb with me! You guys are always around each other, talking to each other, _laughing with each other,_ it's too obvious to not notice that _something_ must be going on!"

"Is that really what everybody thinks-"

"And to think that you would reject _me_ for _him?_ Of all people? Hikaru Hitachiin is the biggest _asshole_ I have ever met!" Kai yelled at her. Melanie stood there, shocked and unable to move as Kai snapped in front of her. Many of the people around them had stopped at the sound of Kai's sudden outburst, including Hikaru himself, who had been talking to a few other guys before his attention was stolen by Kai's confrontation of Melanie.

Perhaps it was the hilarity of the situation, or maybe it was the tragic pleading look in Melanie's eyes as they met his, but Hikaru took a single step forward before he even started thinking about what was even happening. Judging by the harsh shouting, it sounded like Melanie had actually rejected Kai and now he wasn't taking it very well. The thought made Hikaru laugh dryly with how pitiful it was.

"Kai, I would really appreciate if you didn't say that." Melanie started to reply, her voice barely audible but she did her best to maintain a false sense of confidence. Her classmate only started to feel more enraged at her statement.

"Why are you even _defending him?_ " Kai asked, both of his hands balled up into fists but refusing to lower his head towards the ground.

"Because I know that Hikaru isn't nearly as terrible as you make him out to be, just like _you_ are not as awful as he thinks." Melanie answered truthfully, watching as the crowd started to gain animation again and move along the hallways. Hikaru never stepped past the spot he was by earlier, even telling his friends that they could go without him, as he continued to watch Melanie argue for him. It really caught him off guard, he couldn't remember if ever in his entire life someone actually fought for him.

Kai groaned loudly, the kind of groan that was filled with frustration and stress, and then closed his eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths and exhaling. When he reopened them, his usual bright green eyes were dark and muddled, and his lips were shaped into a solid frown.

"I can't believe this." He repeated, shaking his head until his hair had lost its shape and then moving his hands to his tie and loosening it up slightly. He looked at Melanie as she stood there, unwavering in her opinion, waiting for some sort of make shift apology that he knew would never leave her lips.

Hikaru started to move from his spot towards the duo. Ever since Kai stopped talking, they simply stood there in awkward silence, Melanie's left leg rubbing against the back of her right leg like it always did whenever she was nervous. The least he could do after that was at least try to comfort her.

"Hey Melanie," He started, taking a step in between her and Kai, who sneered slightly as Hikaru entered his line of sight, "Tamaki is waiting for us, we need to go."

Melanie didn't move even a muscle as she continued staring at the man in front of her, only when Hikaru grabbed hold of her arm and started moving towards the music room did she finally move her feet voluntarily, but even then she still looked back to see Kai kick one of the tables in the hallway before walking the other way.

* * *

As Melanie and Hikaru made it back home that night, they didn't speak to each other. Hikaru noticed that all through out host club, Melanie didn't smile even once, and her only words to him since the incident had been "thank you" when he opened the door for her. Was she honestly _that_ distraught over the fact that she broke someones heart? Or was she just upset because of his reaction? The girl was absolutely insane if she was wasting minutes of her life thinking about him.

When they arrived back at his house, Melanie threw her stuff on the ground once she entered Hikaru's room and then made her way to his dresser, opening the top drawer where her clothes were held and then pulling out her pajamas before walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind her. Hikaru walked over to the baby, feeding it silently while he waited for Melanie to get out of the bathroom, then walking in and getting ready for bed himself. She reemerged a few minutes later, just in time to catch Melanie changing the fake baby's diaper and then climbing into his bed.

She was still silent for the few moments after Hikaru turned off the final light and situated himself in bed next to her, neither of them shutting their eyes, and instead laying in the darkness, the only light being the slight illumination of the moon spilling into the room next to Melanie's side of the bed.

"Hikaru?"

"Yea?"

Melanie cleared her throat for a moment, turning her head to the right so she could see Hikaru's face, dimly lit by the moonlight.

"Do you like being a twin?"

Hikaru cocked an eyebrow at the question, it was odd to say the least but he couldn't bring himself to feel tired and therefor didn't see the downside of answering.

"It has its ups and downs."

"What don't you like about it?" Melanie asked, her voice low and calm and showing no sign of the harshness from the hours prior. There seemed to be no motive behind her words, just sweet, innocent curiosity.

Hikaru took a moment to think about his answer before replying.

"If there was really one thing that I hated about being a twin, it would be that people automatically assume that Kaoru and I are the same person." Hikaru answered honestly, concentrating on each single word as he said it.

"You crave for individuality?"

"I guess that's one way to put it," He replied, finally turning his head and looking at Melanie's face. She looked incredibly tired, her eyes were slightly drooping, her hair was still somewhat damp from the shower she had taken, her mouth lied expressionless on her face, yet somehow she still seemed engaged in their conversation. "why do you ask?"

Melanie pushed herself up until she was sitting against the headboard, her legs crossed in front of her and her hands lying by her sides intently.

"Before I left New York, I said something to my sisters that I really regret." Melanie explained, taking a moment in between sentences to close her eyes and exhale slowly. "I told them that they shouldn't expect to be treated differently if they were going to look like the same person."

Hikaru winced a bit at her statement, feeling anger start to boil inside of him, but allowing Melanie to finish.

"I never accounted for the fact that everyone was so busy all the time that it was almost like we were strangers among each other and I never bothered to try to get to know them past what they acted like on the outside. I had essentially told them that their individuality didn't matter." She finished, putting her face in her hands and groaning slightly at the very memory. Hikaru's anger slowly disappeared, Melanie's remorse was clear and he didn't think that he could blame her for something that she now regretted.

"Why would you care about it now?" Hikaru finally broke the silence, pushing his comforter off of his body as he too sat up in the bed.

"Well now I really care about it because I don't know if I'm ever going to see them again. There is no guarantee that I'm going to ever move back to be with the rest of my family and there's no reason for them to want to come here if the last memory they have of me is my thoughtless remarks." Melanie muttered, running one hand through her hair and scrunching it up, as if she was getting ready to pull it out.

"That's... horrible." Hikaru admitted, shaking his head and leaning back, his hands supporting his weight. "I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear advice from, but if you truly regret it, you should just tell them."

Melanie cocked her head to the side, giving Hikaru a look that basically told him that she needed more of an explanation than just that.

"What?"

"I mean," Hikaru started, wondering where to go next. "I don't know how you are with your family but I'm sure you're not the type of person that means to do harm-"

"No no, not that. I'm wondering why do you think that I wouldn't want to take advice from you?" Melanie asked, removing her face from her hands and raising an eyebrow at him. Hikaru's eyes widened slightly, confused as to what she was getting at.

"I... I just never got the impression that you took me seriously." Hikaru answered, shaking his head slightly and awkwardly chuckling through his words. Melanie cracked a slight smile as he spoke, closing her eyes and giggling slightly.

"I know we fight a lot but from the day you gave me the bracelet to right now, I always took you seriously." Melanie explained, sticking one of her legs out and stretching, allowing her shirt to slightly trail up her stomach the higher she stretched. Hikaru raised an eyebrow at her statement, but couldn't help being taken aback by her sudden confession.

"Really?"

"Of course, we bicker and fight but for the most part it's just childish arguing. I mean, c'mon, for the past few weeks now you've been looking out for me with all this Kai nonsense, I would never not take my own friend seriously just because every once in a while he's in a bad mood." Melanie giggled softly, her laugh ringing through the air clearly.

Hikaru sat there, completely shocked. For all these years the only people he really considered his close companions was the host club, but now this girl comes from nowhere and interrupts his life and thoughts, slowly opening up to him and even _defending him_ against someone who was clearly in love with her.

The thought made Hikaru's stomach start to feel warm and fuzzy, which infuriated him, yet made him incredibly happy.

"I can't believe it's almost midnight and you're sitting here in front of me trying to confuse me with your nonsense." Hikaru mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for Melanie to hear and earn him a powerful pillow to the face.

"Do you have to ruin _every single moment_ that we have?" Melanie grumbled, taking the pillow back, hitting Hikaru one more time in the knee, and then returning it to it's original position behind her back.

The duo sat there in silence once more, each of them coming to terms with the situation that had arisen, but neither wanting to address it anymore.

Melanie reached over Hikaru's lap and hit the button on her phone, illuminating the room with bright white light as the clock told her that it really was actually nearing midnight, yet somehow she didn't feel tired.

"Did you have a lot of other friends before you came here?" Hikaru broke the silence suddenly, not wanting to go to sleep just yet.

"I did, but not many of them were 'real' friends, just people I would talk to during the day to make time pass by faster." Melanie answered, sticking her feet underneath the crumbled up blanket at the end of the bed frame.

"So, no good friends? A boyfriend?" Hikaru asked again, catching Melanie slightly off guard with the last question. Hikaru lied down again, his head hitting his cold pillow and sending freezing shivers down his spine.

"No, not really..."

"Why not? You're smart, talented, beautiful, I'm sure you wouldn't have had a problem trying to get one." Hikaru replied, not even holding back on his honest opinion as Melanie fully registered what he said. She was thankful that it was dark so he couldn't see the red blush start to flood her cheeks.

"I-It just wouldn't work out, I would rather not talk about it." Melanie finally answered. The quiet that followed didn't seem quite as awkward to either of them, in fact, it was a sort of comfortable silence, the one where they both just enjoyed each other's company despite the lack of words.

Hikaru watched the light as it danced off of Melanie's bare legs, then her arms that were wrapped around them, and then finally her face. The way her eyes seemed to almost glow in the dark, or how even in the weak lighting he could still see her dimples as she smiled wordlessly to herself. He was honestly overjoyed that they were friends, it made all the fighting between them seem less harsh, and more playful, which was more of what the host club was about.

"You can trust me."

Melanie turned her head from looking outside the window back towards her red haired underclassman, his face was entirely serious, no sign of joking or his usual sarcastic manner. It was a completely genuine statement and he wasn't backing down on it or following it up with some sort of joke.

She threw her arms around his neck, hugging Hikaru tight and holding him close. Initially he didn't return the favor, whether that was because of surprise or uncertainty, but when he ultimately decided to hug her back, he couldn't quite describe the feeling it gave him.

"That's exactly what I needed to hear right now. Thank you so much, Hikaru." Melanie whispered, tightening her grip and putting her head into the crook of his neck. She didn't receive a response, but when she lifted her head, she saw the small smile that had made its way onto his face.

* * *

A:N: Hey, sorry that it's a little late, but school is starting again soon and I don't have quite as much time on my hands as I used to anymore. Updating may be a little bit unpredictable from here on out just because I won't have as much time to write as I used to but rest assured, I will not give up on this story and it will definitely be finished (Probably by the end of the year at the latest.)

To answer a few questions in the reviews:

1) : First of all, thank you for all of your reviews, I appreciate it! And second of all, yeah, I will admit I maybe didn't think that out very well. Realistically I''m sure the baby would have to be taken care of during school hours too, but for the sake of me not knowing how to write that in, I think I will omit that.

2) drkm2000: Also thank you for reviewing! I'm glad that the both of you have continued to stick with this story and enjoy it! When it comes to cats in stories, I always liked the idea of naming them Natsu so I'm definitely glad that you are happy with that decision. Once again, I didn't really think that through all the way which is definitely my fault.

3.) lillyannp: Thank you so much for liking it and reviewing! Hopefully you will continue to think it's great as the story goes on!

And that's everything I've wanted to address. As I said, I will NOT give up on this story by any means, but as many of you know school has to come first so I have to make time for that again. I will try to upload again on Monday, but we will see how that goes.


	12. Chapter 12

Why Me?

Chapter Twelve

"Why am I always the person who ends up trying to fix the problem?" Hikaru complained loudly as him and his companion started opening drawers in their attempts to find more flashlights, or at the least, a couple of candles.

"Since when has _anyone_ ever asked you to fix something?" Melanie shot back, rolling her eyes slightly as she opened another drawer filled with what looked like an odd mixture of crayons and game tokens. As she closed the door again, she passed by the light switch, attempting to turn the light back on, but to no avail.

From the other side of the room, Hikaru got down on the ground and shone a light underneath the bed, only seeing a few old toys scattered underneath it, causing another loud groan to escape his lips.

"Of course the power would go out at this idiot's party, it gives him the perfect excuse to make _us_ have to look for flashlights instead of literally _anyone_ else." Hikaru muttered, pushing himself off the ground and then wiping some of the dust off of his jeans.

"Don't call him an idiot."

"But Kai _is_ an idiot."

"Kai also happens to be _Kyoya's_ cousin." Melanie reminded Hikaru, the dangerous ice he was treading on was starting to get thinner and thinner. Over the few weeks that had passed ever since their heart to heart, Hikaru hadn't changed whatsoever. He considered that one moment they shared a 'moment of weakness' and said that he would refuse to let one happen again, but of course that was all for nothing since most of the time when the two were alone, he didn't act nearly as selfish or rude as he usually would have.

"Why did you let Kyoya talk you into coming here?" Hikaru mumbled under his breath just loud enough for Melanie to hear. The duo walked outside of the room and started their ascent up the stairs in their continuous search for a light source.

"He didn't necessarily leave me a choice, it was either come or he would dock my pay." Melanie explained, trying her best not to roll her eyes again at Hikaru's whiny attitude. "The real question is how did _you_ manage to let Kyoya talk you into coming here?"

Hikaru jumped up the last few steps of the stair case before turning into the opposite room that Melanie entered.

"He told me that he would make host club hell for anybody who skipped." Hikaru shuttered, remembering the moment the day before where Kyoya pulled them to the side and carefully explained to them the consequences if he were to arrive at that party by himself. Hikaru didn't know which punishment was worse, having to wait hand and foot on Tamaki's every whim, or being the person to wash and dry all of the cups and plates that just Hunny himself used at the end of everyday. The very thought made Hikaru's skin crawl.

As Melanie started to walk out of the room she was in, her foot hit a rather bouncy inflatable ball, sending it off into the darkness. She didn't think anything of it, just another remnant of a children's toy until she walked out into the hallway, and attempted to enter the room Hikaru was in.

As Hikaru started to walk out of his room, he felt his foot step on something round, causing him to lose his balance and start to topple over.

"Oh shi-" He started as he fell, hitting Melanie in the process and knocking both of them down with a crash loud enough that they were sure that the entire house heard it.

"My head..." Melanie groaned in pain as she lied there, not just physically in pain because of her new head trauma but also suffocating as Hikaru's body weight lied on top of her.

After recovering from the incident, Hikaru quickly noticed that he wasn't lying on top of the ground, but instead Melanie. He quickly pushed himself up, still hovering over her as he fully started to understand that she was in pain.

"Are you okay?" Hikaru asked, slightly panicked. His flashlight had luckily only dropped a few inches away from him so he quickly grabbed it and shone it in Melanie's face.

"The light makes it _worse,_ Hikaru!" Melanie complained, closing her eyes and covering them with her hands.

"Don't tell me you have a concussion." Hikaru muttered. The only thing he knew about concussions was that sometimes when you have one, your eyes almost seem to spin in your head, so naturally what he was going to do was try to find out if Melanie's eyes were indeed spinning in her head.

"Move your hands." Hikaru commanded, much to Melanie's rebellion.

"No, you're just going to try to blind me with that flashlight." She replied, not moving from her previous position. Hikaru took one of his hands and started to move her arm, despite Melanie's fighting.

"C'mon, how am I supposed to know if you need to go to the hospital or not?" Hikaru exclaimed, continuing to try to move both of her arms out of the way, which he was succeeding in, an inch at a time.

"I'll be fine." Melanie assured him. Even though Hikaru was barely on her anymore, he was still hovering over her enough that she couldn't free herself, and that was enough to piss her off even though she tried to keep her cool.

" _What are you two doing?_ "

The sudden out burst caused Melanie and Hikaru to slowly turn around to where they saw a light shining on them. Standing there was Kai, whose face showed obvious evidence of being both shocked, yet incredibly pissed. The party that was somehow still continuing downstairs was, thankfully, still raging strong, so no one else followed in his presence.

Hikaru looked Kai directly in the eye, any sort of remorse that he had felt for causing Melanie's injury had immediately left his face, instead it was replaced with his normal bored expression. Over the past few weeks, every time him and Kai had seen each other, they had refused to speak or even acknowledge one another. Now that Melanie and him had mistakenly given him the impression of a sneaky rendezvous, Hikaru knew that their streak of ignoring one another was about to end at that exact moment.

"Just looking for flashlights."

Melanie raised her eyebrow at the way Hikaru had sarcastically answered his upperclassman. She knew as well as anybody that he loved to pick fights with Kai, and despite the fact that they were at _his_ birthday party, she could sense that this encounter wasn't going to be any different than the other as she started to brace for impact. She started to distance herself from the both of them as she pushed away from Hikaru and closer to the wall, inch by inch, until she was leaning against it.

"That sure as hell didn't look like you were just looking for flashlights." Kai growled through his teeth. Hikaru was much bigger than Melanie was, and initially upon seeing her lying on the ground, it looked like he was taking advantage of her, which for Kai, was enough of a reason to finally punch his face in.

Hikaru didn't answer him that time, instead he just sat on the ground, looking at the ball that he had tripped over and started to reach for it.

Kai's eyes loomed over to Melanie, who was staring over at Hikaru and watching as he started to throw the ball at the wall, catching it when it bounced back and then repeating the process.

"And _you,_ " Kai started, sticking his index finger out in the direction of Melanie, who turned her head to meet it. She was slightly anxious at his accusatory posture because with Hikaru near her, it was the perfect recipe for Kai to start jumping to conclusions. "first you reject me for _him,_ and then you start trying to fuck at my own party? _What is wrong with you!"_

Melanie's expression after his accusation was blank, but it quickly flushed into a deep red as she realized just how angry he was.

"It's not like that-" She started trying to explain herself, only to be at a loss for words as Hikaru interrupted her.

"She doesn't have to explain herself. Why don't you just go back downstairs instead of being an asshole _at your own party?_ " Hikaru started to mock Kai, smirking slightly as he saw his eyebrows furrow, his nostril somewhat flare, and his eyes start squinting. Hikaru knew he had just pushed his final button, and he was more than ready for what was to follow.

" _I swear I'm going to punch that little smile right off of your face-_ "

"Kai! Get down here, we're going to start playing commoner games! Bring Hikaru and Melanie too!"

The trio all stopped as they heard the voices scream for them down the stairs, one of them sounding like Tamaki's over excited squeal.

Kai took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he turned from the two people in front of him, and started making his way back down the stairs, leaving a trail of profanity behind him.

"Hikaru, you never know when to stop." Melanie started muttering under her breath as she picked herself up off of the ground, wiping away at a speck of dust on her cardigan before straightening out her skirt.

"No, I just defend myself when I know that I didn't do anything wrong." Hikaru scoffed in response as he did the same, and followed her as the both of them went down the stairs, not wanting to discuss the situation any further.

As the two walked back downstairs, no one paid any attention to them with the exception of Tamaki, who moved over in the circle they were making just enough for Melanie to sit beside him, while Hikaru walked halfway around and sat in between his brother and Hunny. Kai sat on the other side of Tamaki and found that Hikaru was in the perfect position for Kai to still throw daggers at him.

The group started to quiet down as more people joined and some left once again, leaving mainly the host club, a few frequent female guests, and Kai sitting in a large circle in the middle of his gigantic living room. The room was at least four stories tall and one side was made completely out of glass windows that allowed more than enough moonlight to come in for everyone to see each other despite the sudden power outage.

At first, the game went by slow as Haruhi and Tamaki had to explain it to many of the people there, some of which were wondering how their parents would feel if they knew that they were playing it, but as the game progressed, many guys and girls started laughing and enjoying themselves, most of them loosening up and smiling, with the exception of one person.

"Wow Kai, you sure don't seem like you're having a good time like most other people." Hikaru suddenly spoke up, taking a sip of his water before placing it down beside him on the wooden floor. Kai rolled his eyes, looking over at Melanie as she continued giggling at something Tamaki had told her only moments before.

"Hey Melanie, truth or dare?" Kaoru asked her sweetly when his turn approached, leaning forward slightly as he watched her eyes get slightly wider at the question. The only thing Melanie had been asked up to that point was a very tame truth about whether or not she liked playing in the host club, but now that Kaoru was in charge, she knew that whatever he would throw at her was more than likely not going to be pleasant.

"Truth."

"Oh c'mon, that's so _lame_." Kaoru complained, watching as Melanie was taken aback and thought it back over again.

"Okay then, dare."

"Play seven minutes in Heaven with Hikaru." Kaoru dared her, listening to Hikaru almost choke on his water next to him and watching as Melanie's face flushed once again.

Was she _actually_ supposed to do it?

"Wait one moment, I'm going to have to object-" Kai started, only to be cut off mid sentence.

"It's a dare. Only Melanie can choose whether to take it or leave it." Kaoru interrupted him, turning his head and looking back over at the blushing girl sitting a few feet away from him. As all eyes fell on her, she couldn't even come up with a coherent sentence in her head let alone reason with herself enough to tell him that his dare was ridiculous.

"C'mon Mel, let's just get it over with." Hikaru finally spoke up, pushing himself off of the ground and walking across the circle to his friend as he held out his hand for her to take. Melanie looked around once more as the hand didn't move, catching glimpses of people madly whispering around her and the few cocked eyebrows and furiously red faces.

And then she grabbed it.

The duo was silent as they walked over to the nearest storage closet, filled to the brim with pillows, blankets, and extra linen sheets, but just enough room for Hikaru and Melanie to walk in and comfortable sit down, the light of the moon shining in through the window and illuminating the small space with enough light for the both of them to easily see one another.

As the first minute passed, neither of them dared to speak a word to the other, whether it was out of embarrassment or just of childish anger, there wasn't a sound to be heard other than the party continuing outside the doors and down the hallway.

As the second minute quickly approached it's end, Hikaru finally spoke up.

"Do you want to help me mess with Kai?"

"Hikaru, I don't want to be a part of your immature feud-" Melanie started to decline just as Hikaru started to shake his head vigorously.

" _Oh come on!_ At this point it isn't about some immature feud, it's just about the fact that you never get angry even when you should! This guy is actually manipulating you because he _knows_ that you're not going to say anything about it and you're just letting it happen!" Hikaru exclaimed, his voice quickly raising after every word as his harsh tone resonated throughout the room. Melanie was taken aback, and for a moment, she felt like she wanted to cry.

"Hikaru, I-"

"You don't _deserve_ that shit you're going through, so are you just going to keep letting him kick you while you're down?" Hikaru asked again, this time there was still a slight energetic tone to his voice, but he had already calmed down enough so that he would not yell.

And with that, Melanie was completely on board.

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" She agreed, letting the corners of her mouth just somewhat pull up into a smile, but not enough for Hikaru to think that she was 100% all right with whatever he was going to suggest. She could see through the bright light that Hikaru's former grimace had turned into a slightly wicked smile as he started to form a plan that he _knew_ would anger Kai for days on end.

"I'm going to need you to mess your hair up."

"Why? What could that possibly do-"

"Just do it, you'll understand in a few minutes."

Melanie cocked an eyebrow at the statement, already suspicious as to what she had gotten herself in to. With one hand she pushed through her messy curls, shaking her head slightly as she felt them start to separate and her volume start to increase. She cast a slight glance towards Hikaru, who shook his head as he ran his hand violently through his hair until it almost seemed to be standing up in the back, but ridiculously disheveled in the front. As Melanie followed his example, Hikaru smiled, watching as the girl vigorously shook her head and caused her hair to look wild and untamed.

Admittedly, she still looked cute.

"Don't be alarmed, but I'm going to flip my shirt inside out." Hikaru started as he quickly pulled it over his head with one hand before Melanie could even get a word in. She sat there silently as she watched him pull it back over his head, inside out and backwards, and then move his hand towards his hair in an attempt to fix it.

Melanie couldn't help but find that even though he looked like he had just woken up after a bad nights sleep, he was still _very_ attractive.

"So Hikaru, what is the point of this?" She asked, watching him roll one of his pant legs up so that it appeared to be shorter than the other.

"Mel, you have such a dangerous weapon on your side and you don't even truly realize it," Hikaru started, looking over at her. "yourself."

She raised another eyebrow at the statement, not catching Hikaru's drift as he looked at his watch and started to count down their last thirty seconds in the room.

"When a guy _truly_ likes a girl as much as Kai likes you, jealousy is always the way to go." Hikaru flashed a devilish grin as he reveled in the thought of Kai angry, probably stomping and maybe even throwing a temper tantrum.

"Please don't tell me that means what I think it means-" Melanie started as the true reality of what Hikaru was attempting to do dawned on her.

Suddenly, there was multiple loud bangs on the door as voices, most notably Tamaki, screamed about the seven minutes being up.

"I guess it's show time." Hikaru said as he rose up from the ground and pulled Melanie up with him. "Oh yeah, and Melanie?"

"Hmm?"

Hikaru quickly placed his lips on Melanie's cheek, dangerously close to her mouth and catching her off guard, her cheeks flushing to a deep red and her hands covering her mouth in response to the sudden gesture.

" _Hikaru!_ " Melanie gasped as the doors flew open and a large crowd of party goers all eagerly tried to catch a glimpse of the damage.

" _Melanie! Why is your face so red!_ " Tamaki's shrill screech cut through the loud comments, annoying wolf whistles, and manly shouts of approval towards Hikaru.

Melanie couldn't bring herself to remove her hands from her face. The area where he had kissed her almost seemed to buzz from all the adrenaline that was coursing through her body, and the wide smirk Hikaru had on his face wasn't making it any better.

He scanned the crowd, not thinking anything of the sudden gesture he had pulled until he saw Kai, his face pinched as raw anger flowed from one end of his body to the next, and to Hikaru, that was the most satisfying feeling in the world.

"Hikaru! You really look like you enjoyed yourself, huh?" Kaoru asked as he pushed through the crowd and up to his twin, giving him a high five as he tried to read his brother's face. Hikaru, while having a smirk plastered on his face, gave Kaoru a look that made him suspect that the situation wasn't all that Hikaru wanted the crowd to believe.

After the stunt, no one approached Melanie and it gave her time to realize what the kiss was really about. It was just Hikaru using her easy embarrassment to his advantage and didn't actually mean anything. Neither did the fact that he gave her the pep talk or even came up with the idea in the first place, surely it was all just planned for his benefit that he could make his enemy angry.

When the reality of it started to sink in, it surely didn't feel as good as she had hoped it would.

The butterflies that had briefly enveloped her stomach were replaced with harsh feelings of dread and she started to feel sort of sick from the thought of the stupid and vile trick they had just played.

 _Damn Hikaru, why did I have to listen to him in the first place?_ She thought as she slowly reached up against the wall and started to make her way out of the crowd, keeping her eyes low and directed at the ground and doing her best not to take any attention away from him as she tried to make an attempt to sneak out of there.

The night air hit Melanie with an icy chill, much colder than the warm day had led her to believe it would be. Somehow, the frigid air still felt good in her lungs as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting her curly hair fall behind her and her head lean back slightly. Her eyes were greeted with a multitude of bright, beautiful stars as she opened them once again and the moon was full and luminous, casting it's white light all over the rose garden in front of her and reflecting off the dew drops on the dark red flowers.

She took a few steps forward, putting one hand on the railing as her feet moved one in front of the other, down the stairs and on the rocky path in front of her. In the distance she could hear fresh, flowing water and as she looked farther ahead past the patch of wildflowers that were retracting into their buds, she saw a small fountain with a rather cute iron bench sitting in front of it and started to approach it.

" _Melanie!_ "

At the sound of her name, the girl turned around, just to feel her stomach drop when she saw Kai taking long strides towards her.

"Wait, Kai, please listen to me for a moment-" Melanie tried to explain but was angrily cut off by the tall brunette in front of her, his eyes blazing with anger and his hands balled up into two fists. A twinge of fear started to make an appearance at the back of her mind, but she tried her best to push the feeling away and instead stay rational.

"I can't _believe_ you! This is _sickening_!" Kai started screaming at her, not even bothering to try and keep his voice low in the nighttime.

"Please let me explain-" She started.

"You made a complete _fool_ out of me with that asshole Hitachiin and now I'm just starting to think that you're _enjoying it!_ " He cut her off once again.

"That's what I'm trying to apologize for!"

"There would be no need to apologize if you hadn't _rejected_ _me_ in the first place!" Kai continued to argue with her, watching as slight confusion soon swept the face of the girl in front of him and she didn't seem like she felt very apologetic anymore. The chorus of doors opening and footsteps joining the duo outside started to appear behind him as nosy classmates wanted to find out what the commotion was about. 

Melanie took a step back for a moment as his argument started to come together in her head. He was blaming her for all of this just because she took advantage of her right to _reject_ him? He wasn't even angry about the mockery Hikaru had just made of him but instead he was so irate over the fact that she just didn't want to date him?

Now she wasn't feeling quite as keen to be nice, instead, rage started to boil in Melanie's bones once again as she realized that every word Hikaru had spoken was true, and now she wasn't going to take it anymore.

" _Excuse you?_ I will admit that the stunt Hikaru and I pulled was wrong and I'm sorry but you trying to shame me for not wanting to go out with you is _completely stupid_. I have been nothing but nice to you about this and I am not the type of person to get angry this easily but it's none of your _god damn business_ who I date or what my choices are so you can _shut the hell up_." Melanie exclaimed, taking a step towards him and narrowing her eyes. The words left her mouth so easily and the satisfaction she received from watching his face twist into unbelievable shock momentarily made it all worth it.

Kai's eyes were wide with disbelief and he briefly turned around when he heard a scattered applause and a set of very loud cheers coming from his party guests behind him.

"Who the hell do you think you are! You're just a _commoner!_ " He started yelling in retribution, only to see Melanie already start to walk around him and towards the crowd. She spotted her friends standing there with looks of pride upon their faces, especially Hikaru as he was still somewhat clapping despite everyone else stopping.

She chose not to reply to him, only walk through the frosty air and towards the people all crowded onto the patio. She continued walking, only stopping once she reached Hikaru.

"I'm never going along with your plans again. I end up doing things that I rather not do." Melanie told him, giggling slightly but shaking her head. He shrugged his shoulders and returned his famously charming smile.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that." He answered as he took off his jacket and placed it around her shaking shoulders, leading her through the crowd and towards the car that was waiting for her.

* * *

A:N: Okay I'm so sorry that I'm so late but I am drowning in work and classes and over all I am just so stressed right now that words can't explain it. I haven't been on for a while but it was so nice to see the amount of people who followed in the time I was gone and I'd just like to say thank you to every one of you!

I'm going to revise chapter thirteen as soon as I'm finished studying, and I'll try to release it as soon as possible (if my APs don't kill me first lmaoooo)

Hope you enjoyed!


	13. Chapter 13

Why Me?

Chapter Thirteen

"Mel? Babe, you need to wake up."

The words caused Melanie to put the pillow over her ears in an effort to block out the sound of someone's voice in her bedroom.

"I just want to sleep a little longer..." She mumbled into her bed, opening an eye briefly to see bright sun pouring in through the window behind her bed and onto the floor of her bedroom.

 _Wait._

Since when did she have a window behind her bed?

She opened another eye. The voice that was in the room with her continued to beg her to get up but she paid no attention. Something felt _off_ about her surroundings.

When she finally lifted the pillow off of her head and looked around the room, her heart felt like it was going to stop as she realized something crucial.

"This isn't my house." She whispered quietly to herself, looking at everything in the room from the cerulean blue of the painted walls that led up into high ceilings to the lavish, expensive white couches that sat at the very end of the room underneath varying frames filled with pictures of a family that she didn't even recognize.

"What are you talking about? Of course this is."

She stopped immediately as she started to recognize the awfully familiar voice that came from the spot right next to her. She momentarily closed her eyes, praying that it wasn't who she thought it was, before she slowly turned her head to the right, letting her eyes fall on the body of a certain red haired man laying on the opposite side of the bed.

If it wasn't for the door opening, she would have screamed.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

Melanie held in her breath, letting her hands cover her mouth to make sure that she wouldn't actually scream as two children of varying ages ran into the room. She looked around, trying to see if there was perhaps a set of parents around that the children could possibly have been referring to, but after a quick inspection it revealed that there was no one else there except for them.

"Risa! Chinami! Where's your brother?" Hikaru asked the two girls as they climbed up onto the bed and sat down on both sides of him, putting their arms around his waist and hugging him gently as the both of them giggled. He looked older, about late twenties, perhaps early thirties, and his hair was slightly grown out. Any sort of boyish features that she last remembered him retaining had been wiped from his face and instead all she saw was a _man_. Even his voice had managed to deepen more than it already had, and that may have just been the most surprising part.

Melanie still couldn't say anything as she sat there, slightly petrified at the scene that unfolded in front of her. The two girls were almost spitting images of Hikaru, from the hair color to the mischievous sparkle in their eyes, and it made her stomach start to churn as she realized what that must have meant.

 _Were these Hikaru's daughters?_

"He's coming," One of them answered, playing with his hair while he laughed at the way the other one was trying to put her foot over her head.

Within moments of the comment, the door to the room opened once more, this time with a small little boy poking his head inside before slowly walking in without saying a single word. His caramel colored hair was an utter mess and his light brown eyes were slightly drooping as he released a small yawn. Then, he pulled himself onto the bed, crawling over to where Melanie was and sat down on her lap with a soft plop.

Melanie's eyes were wide with surprise, the little boy in front of her didn't look as much like Hikaru as the two girls did, and he wasn't nearly as energetic that morning as they were either.

"It's amazing how much he looks like you, Mel." Hikaru commented as he started braiding one of the girl's hair for them. Melanie cocked an eyebrow up, not taking the hint as to what that was supposed to mean, but instead looking at the child in front of her, who in return looked up at her too.

"Good morning, mommy." He greeted, getting closer to Melanie's waist and wrapping his arms around her while laying his head on her chest as his eyes closed once again.

"Did he just call me mommy?" She asked, blinking her eyes once, then twice at the statement while Hikaru proceeded to laugh next to her.

"Of course he did. In seven years we've had three children, don't act like you're surprised now." Hikaru replied, one of the girls moving over from his side and leaning her head against Melanie's right shoulder while her feet reached over Hikaru's legs and off of the side of the bed.

And with that, Melanie finally screamed.

* * *

The amount of effort that went into the maintenance of the host club seemingly increased as the weeks following summer passed. While normally the club would offer fancy cake and extravagant teas to its clientele, as the fall started to approach they had changed their menu over to more "exotic" drinks that were inspired by one of Tamaki's recent trips to North America.

Now instead of serving organic South African honeybush tea with a side of double layer strawberry compote cake to their pristine guests, they were dishing out plates upon plates of pumpkin pie that was served with classic southern style sweet tea.

As Melanie sat in the corner, playing the piano as usual, she couldn't help but crack a smile at the way the new dishes were approached by the girls. A classmate of hers, who was being hosted by Hunny and Mori to the right of the piano, took her silver fork and cut through the thick pie, raising an eyebrow at the consistency of the pumpkin puree inside, yet still attempting to keep a smile on her face that didn't scream out "If I eat this my father will kill me!"

She cracked a smile at the scene the girl was making, from the stream of tears that was starting to fall from her eyes to the sounds of disgust that she was making before the fork even hit her lips, it was truly a sight to behold.

"Melanie, if I could please speak to you for a moment,"

She turned her head to the other side of the piano where it seemed that Kyoya was standing, notebook in hand and glasses sitting comfortably on the bridge of his nose as he continued to write something down. As soon as she stood up, he turned around and started walking away to the table on the far end of the room near Haruhi where he usually did the club's finances in peace.

Melanie raised an eyebrow at his behavior. It always struck her as odd at the way she would hear girls talk about Kyoya as if he were some sort of gentlemen sent from Heaven above just to cater to their every needs, but that may have been because she knew what Kyoya was like when he wasn't holding up a facade: ruthless, despite not being completely heartless.

She slipped through the small space that was allotted between the bench and the actual piano, her bare feet hitting against the cold tile ground as she pushed herself off of the seat, simultaneously wrapping both of her hands into the fabric of the long, olive colored southern belle style dress that was part of the cosplay for the week. The costume was incredibly hot, even for the fall months that were quickly approaching, and the heavy makeup that they required her to wear with it had not taken well to the sweat that was starting to accumulate on top of her forehead.

Once she had finally managed to pull enough of the skirt up that she could actually move forward without stumbling, she started walking over to the other side of the room. Her eyes quickly glanced around the room, trying to find Hikaru and Kaoru so that she could do her best to absolutely avoid them.

The dream she had had three nights ago left her waking up in a panic, sweat covering her forehead and her covers had been tossed everywhere. The very _thought_ of it made her feel nauseated, to the point where she had done everything she could to get out of even making eye contact with the twins.

Which she happened to make when Hikaru walked out of the back room and saw her.

He flashed her a brief smile, one that was short enough to let her know that she wasn't too important to him at that moment but sincere enough that it suggested that he would appreciate if she smiled back. Melanie quickly bowed her head so that she was staring at the ground as it was moving below her, quickening her pace to where Kyoya sat and almost running into the back of Haruhi's chair.

Hikaru was taken aback at the scene that had unfolded in front of him. Had he done something wrong?

"Hikaru, get over here!" Kaoru shouted from just a few feet away, putting a large silver ornamental platter down in front of their guests that had a sickly sweet peach cobbler in it. Hikaru walked over, continuing to look in the direction of Melanie as she sat down at the table and listened intently while Kyoya talked to her.

"Did I say something to Mel recently?" Hikaru leaned over and whispered in his twins ear, not wanting to garner the attention of their guests who were picking at the dessert in front of them with wonder.

"Aw, that's cute, you have a pet name for her." Kaoru chuckled playfully as he too glanced over at their piano player. Kyoya had laid out numerous pieces of paper in front of her and with a pen was carefully underlining certain aspects of it, then placing an x at spots where he needed her to sign.

" _Shut up_ , that's not what I want to hear." Hikaru replied, hitting Kaoru slightly on the back of his head while he waited for an actual response.

"As if you would pay attention to me if I were to give you real advice," Kaoru scoffed to himself, taking a sip of his tea but noticing in the corner of his eye that Hikaru's eyebrows were furrowed deeply and he sincerely looked upset over the notion. "but as far as I know, you haven't said anything. Maybe she just isn't in the mood to talk to anybody."

Hikaru's mouth turned into a severe frown, one that was apparent enough to let Kaoru know that he was not very happy with the thought that Melanie didn't want to talk to him.

"She doesn't want to talk to me anymore? And after I got her a-"

"Yea, I know. After you got her a _job_ too. How incredibly _rude_." Kaoru mocked his older brother, his lips pulled into a slight smirk before he gave his attention back to the group of four girls in the pink couch in front of him, squealing in delight at the sweetness of the confection.

As an hour passed and the host club started to clear out, a photography crew started piling into the room, one by one setting up for a surprise photo shoot and closing the doors as soon as the last guest left.

"Tamaki-senpai, what's going on?" Haruhi asked as the room had turned silent and all the hosts' attention was directed towards the camera.

" _Kyoya! What is the meaning of this?"_ Tamaki yelled across the room where his raven haired best friend and Melanie were just finishing up their business. Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before walking over to the cream colored couch that sat in one of the parts of the room.

"It's a simple photo shoot for the cover of the Host Club calendar for next year, don't tell me that you didn't read the newsletter I sent last month." Kyoya answered, motioning with his finger for all of the members to join him.

"C'mon Kyoya," Hikaru started, an arm over his twin's shoulder and the two of them approached the couch using short, slow strides.

"No one _actually_ reads those." Kaoru finished, rolling his eyes in time with Hikaru until he caught eye of the small brunette standing off to the side, her face was flushed a dark red and she was staring off towards the ground in a manner that made her seem invisible, which in turn caught his attention.

As Tamaki snapped his fingers and started directing people as to where to sit, Melanie's head lifted itself up as she was instructed to sit on the left side of the couch with her legs crossed and hands on her lap. When she did as ordered, the twins took it upon themselves to find their own seats.

Kaoru grabbed a fistful of Hikaru's blazer, exchanging mischievous glances as he dragged him towards the couch, taking the seat to the right of her while Hikaru took the seat to her left, earning a surprised yelp from Melanie and a whiny complaint from Tamaki.

"Hey Mel, I feel like we haven't talked in forever, don't you?" Kaoru asked, casually putting his arm around her and causing Hikaru to raise an eyebrow. After all the time she had spent there, she had become very comfortable with everyone in the host club, and was especially sarcastic yet loving towards the twins, but something had happened that made her demeanor towards them completely change.

"Yea Mel, why haven't we talked recently?" Hikaru asked, not sounding quite as nonchalant as Kaoru, instead sounding actually quite concerned and serious. She briefly gazed at his face, her cheeks flushed into a noticeable shade of red as she finally looked him in the eyes, and she remembered the faces of her two dream daughters and son. The children that she had shared _with_ Hikaru. The butterflies that were bouncing around the inside of her stomach threatened to make a reappearance every time she could have sworn she skipped a heart beat, which meant every time she was even reminded of the situation at hand.

She then stared into her lap, not wanting to look at her underclassmen and instead just wishing they would leave her alone with her embarrassing thoughts.

"Melanie, I think you and Haruhi would look better behind the couch next to Mori and Hunny," Kyoya suggested out loud, garnering the attention of the brunette who immediately stood up, leaving the twins on the sofa by themselves as they started to argue with his decision. Kyoya shot them a quick glare, making the two of them stop talking and just return the favor.

The piano player walked briskly over to the opposite end of the couch where Mori was standing still behind Hunny, who was sitting on the back of the sofa, with his feet touching the cushion where Haruhi had been sitting earlier. The duo smiled sincerely at her, even complimenting how cute she looked in her cosplay.

As the photo shoot started, Melanie did her best not to look over at Hikaru, but that didn't stop anyone from noticing that something was definitely off about the dynamic between the two.

* * *

"Kaoru, I think Mel is avoiding me." Hikaru told his brother as the host club all went into the back room so they could leave.

"You think? What part of her not even speaking to you made you think that?" Kaoru replied, not exactly angry but really just bummed out that she was suddenly ignoring them.

"I don't even know what I did though! Three days ago she stopped talking to me and now she won't even _look at me?_ " He complained, turning around when he heard the rustle of a door open, but groaning when he noticed that it was only Tamaki and Kyoya who were exchanging looks as they walked by the twins.

"Maybe you offended her." Kaoru suggested, only to be shot down by Hikaru's vigorously shaking head.

"But I don't even _want_ to be mean to her anymore, I genuinely like her enough that I am watching what I'm saying." Hikaru confessed, earning a surprised look from Kaoru.

"Well then why don't you just ask her?" His younger brother recommended, right as they heard doors opening once again and saw her walking out with her uniform back on. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but she seemed like she was on the edge about something, like she was just waiting for her greatest fear to pop out at her.

"Hey Melanie!" He called out from across the room, garnering her attention and immediate escape attempt. Hikaru quickly took steps in the direction of the door, blocking her route and forcing her to at least acknowledge him if she would want to exit.

"Hi Hikaru." She mumbled quietly, not allowing her eyes to look up from the floor, instead examining the panels of tile below her and how intricate the marble was.

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at the barely audible greeting; if it had been any other day, she would have taken the opportunity to talk to him, or at the least make fun of him somehow but it just proved his point that something had to have been wrong with her.

"Are you sick by any chance?" He asked her, leaning over slightly so he could try to catch a glimpse of her eyes, but her long, brown hair was covering her face completely and shook violently as she denied the claim. "Is something wrong then?"

She didn't reply to his question initially, but then shook her head again. She desperately wanted to leave so at the least she would be able to get over her embarrassment without anyone else hearing her pathetic groaning.

Hikaru scowled, his patience finally running out and his feelings officially getting the best of him.

"Then why are you _avoiding me?"_

For a moment, Melanie stopped breathing and she could have sworn that her heart stopped beating. She already felt bad that she _was_ avoiding him, but now that she could tell that he was so obviously hurt and aware of it, she felt absolutely horrible for the words that came out of her mouth next.

"Of course I'm not." She lied, lifting her head up and trying her best to not look in his eyes. He _did_ look upset, as if she was holding some sort of secret from him and he wanted desperately to know what it was. He was obviously unconvinced, but she couldn't blame him.

Hikaru couldn't find the words to reply, instead he continued to watch as she looked at a column beside him. He at least wanted to know if it was something he did that offended her so badly, but if she wouldn't even admit that she was going out of her way not to interact with him, then what would be the point of pushing it further?

He groaned loudly, not bothering to hide his discontent from his friend as he stepped to the side and reached one hand around the door handle, pulling it open and waiting for Melanie to walk through it. As she quickly ran out, he turned around to face Mori, Hunny, and Haruhi walking out of the back rooms, all of them had looks of concern on their faces.

"Is Melanie upset?" Mori asked his underclassman, watching as Hikaru's eyes rolled and he exhaled a deep breath that he didn't even know he was holding in.

"She's been acting weird lately, we used to walk to home together but now she is the first one to leave everyday." Haruhi added, sounding unmoved by the notion despite one of her eyebrows being raised.

"Yea, but she at least still speaks to you, I don't know what _I_ did that she won't even look at me," Hikaru sighed. Anyone with ears could hear how genuinely hurt he sounded, but as the wheels in Hunny's head turned, he figured there was more to the story than what they all could figure out by themselves.

"Maybe she is upset about your charity auction coming up," Hunny suggested, holding on tight to Usa-chan as his friends all contemplated it.

"I guess no one really asked her what she thought about it." Kaoru added as he walked up to the group, both his and Hikaru's briefcases in his hands.

"Yea, I mean if all of us are having a date auctioned off, maybe we should have at least asked her if she was okay with it." Haruhi agreed, thinking of how she never even got to give her approval on the subject herself.

"But it's for _homeless children,_ there is no way that she would be upset with raising money so little kids living on the streets could be fed every day." Hikaru tried to argue, but the more he thought about it, perhaps it was a plausible situation.

"When did she start acting weird?" Mori asked.

"Three days ago."

"And when did you and Kaoru tell her about the charity auction?" Hunny continued the question.

"... Three days ago." Hikaru mumbled quietly under his breath, closing his eyes for a moment and thinking that maybe that really _was_ the problem at hand.

"So maybe you should go up to her and tell her that she doesn't _have_ to do it if she doesn't want to." Haruhi suggested, slowly starting to move towards the door again with Hunny and Mori in tow.

"But she won't stop avoiding me long enough for me to get more than a sentence in!" Hikaru countered, watching as Mori opened the door and Haruhi stepped out into the hallway, already walking towards the exit doors.

"Takashi and I will ask her for you then." Hunny promised, taking a candy out of his pocket and unwrapping it before popping it into his mouth and then exiting the room.

* * *

A:N: Whooooooooo hooooooooo! I'm like two weeks late but I updated!

Yea, so I guess I can honestly say that my regular updating schedule is basically non-existent now.

But as most of you know, school has to come first (as much as I dread saying that) so this story kind of has to take a back seat, but I am still cranking out chapters, just at a bit of a slower pace.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter though, it's a two chapter arc if I remember correctly and it's all based around this lil dream Mel had. (Also based on something that actually happened to someone I know so lemme tell ya, avoiding someone just because they popped up in your dream usually doesnt end well.)(but in this story of course it will)

Thanks for all the favorites, follows, and reviews, and see ya next time :)


	14. Chapter 14

Why Me?

Chapter Fourteen

Three days passed by and slowly Melanie seemed to somewhat recover from her mysterious withdrawal. When Hunny and Mori approached her about the charity auction, she fully denied any sort of complications she might have had with the event, leaving the host club still dazzled as to what could have possibly upset her, but happy about her returning to her normal self again.

Well, at least that seemed to be the case until the day of the auction.

As the grand ball room of Ouran Academy filled with many students and businessmen alike, Hikaru sat at the table especially reserved for the seven men who made up the host club. All of his friends were chatting happily amongst themselves while Hunny managed to return to his seat with a plate filled with gourmet cakes, but he was ignoring their conversation and instead sat there, running his finger among the rim of his glass with a frown lining his face.

Haruhi stopped her laughing at one of Kaoru's jokes once she noticed the look of discontent Hikaru was displaying, raising an eyebrow at his weird behavior.

"Are you okay?" She asked the older twin, only to receive a scoff in return and him turning his chair farther away from the table towards the large stage. If it had been anyone else, the rude action might have offended them, but Haruhi was too aware of what was probably crossing Hikaru's mind at that exact moment in time; she had been the only one that witnessed the awkward moment that had happened to him only hours prior. She creaked her head slightly to the left to get a better glimpse of what he seemed to be looking at, and was not surprised in the slightest when she saw Melanie and her mother sitting at a table by themselves, seeming to enjoy each others company.

Hikaru's golden eyes didn't even seem to blink as he continued to gaze in their direction and when he heard Kaoru call his name, he refused to look at him.

"... Are you going to keep acting like you're upset or are you finally going to tell us what is wrong?" Kaoru asked him, displeased with the child like pouting that Hikaru was displaying, but not enough that he was going to blatantly tell him that he was being immature.

"Are you upset that Mel-chan is sitting with her mom over us?" Hunny asked, cutting off the corner of a slice of chocolate cake and eagerly stuffing it in his mouth. Hikaru didn't reply to his question, but the way that his eyebrows furrowed gave away his opinion on that topic anyway.

"Does this have anything to do with Melanie asking you to give her some space earlier?" Kyoya continued the conversation, sipping on his tea in a nonchalant manner before setting it down on the saucer. He had just walked out of the host club room when he heard the two quietly talking in one of the hallways close by, and even though he didn't think it was any of his business, he did however believe that any sort of tension between members of the club definitely wasn't good for profit. He did however know Hikaru well enough to know that his pouting just meant that he wanted to talk about it, he just needed the right sort of push to do so.

Hikaru turned back around in his chair, taking a deep breath and then exhaling it slowly before he answered.

"Yes."

"But I thought Melanie wasn't acting strange anymore? Is she ignoring you again?" Tamaki asked, a bit louder than he wanted as a few people in the tables surrounding them turned around and gave the group nasty looks.

"I don't know! I tried to talk to her again today and then she just flat out told me that she wanted time for herself, whatever that means." Hikaru replied, his lips pulled into a tight frown while he just stared at his water glass.

"Maybe something is really bothering her, give her some space and then ask her what's wrong." Kaoru suggested as the lights dimmed and the music that was playing came to a slow halt. One by one, everyone in the room turned around and faced the stage as the twin's mother walked up to the podium and started speaking, thanking a few people before beginning the bidding phase of the evening.

The first section of the auction was material objects such as paintings and dresses, and caused loud debates amongst many of the refined gentlemen and women who were eager to get their hands on them. This section didn't really catch the attention of many of the hosts, with the exception of Kyoya who scoffed at the prices that some of the pieces were auctioned off at.

The second section consisted of ten dates with various girls. The first few walked the stage confidently, and gave sly winks to the table with the hosts despite their uninterested glances. Once they were auctioned off, they all excited the stage with whomever bid the highest on them.

"Next up, a young lady who is devoted to her musical studies and attends Ouran Academy, Melanie Suzuki." Yuzuha announced as she looked back at the back of the stage as Melanie walked out from behind the curtain. She was grinning from ear to ear, happy to be a part of such a charitable event, but started blushing out of embarrassment as she saw and heard Tamaki and Hunny clapping and cheering loudly. She gave a slight wave to them, but then stopped when she saw Hikaru looking at her. He didn't look bored, but he did seem hurt as his dimly lit face stared at her.

"We will start the bidding at 500,000 yen-" Yuzuha announced into the microphone, only to be cut off by someone's bid.

"Maybe you should bid on her, you'd finally be able to talk to her then, Hika-chan!" Hunny whispered to his friend, catching Hikaru's attention.

"You don't think she would get even more angry?" Hikaru asked, wincing slightly as the son of a celebrity chef at the table next to them yelled another bid.

"Something tells me that Melanie isn't angry, I think a civil discussion between you two would easily sort everything out!" Hunny encouraged him. Hikaru raised an eyebrow and was about to admit that the idea didn't sound too good to him, but was taken aback when Hunny took his hand and held it in the air.

"A ten million yen bid from my son!" Yuzuha announced over the microphone, catching Hikaru by surprise as he turned back around and faced the stage again. Melanie looked more confused than enraged at his bidding, probably caused by the look of surprise that crossed his face when it was announced.

"Ten million yen? _"_ Hikaru repeated to himself, only to hear the numerous murmurs of tables around him start to grow louder. When no other voices spoke up, Yuzuha banged her gavel against the podium and declared the date sold.

As Melanie started to walk down the stairs towards Hikaru, the two of them made eye contact, though as much as she wanted to avert her eyes, she would much rather stare at him than any of the stuck up businessmen there.

When she finally made it all the way over to the table the next auction had already begun. She did her best to not think of her dream and instead try to think of how she was doing a good thing instead.

"I appreciate the fact that you think I'm worth ten million yen." Melanie finally spoke up, her breath oddly calm considering that she had spent days avoiding a moment like this. Hikaru nodded his head awkwardly in response, trying to come up with the words to say but the host club sitting next to him intensely listening in on his conversation made it quite hard.

"Are you up for walking right now?" Hikaru suddenly asked, starting to walk towards the door while Melanie stood still. She didn't want to go with him, in fact, that was one of the very last things she wanted to do at that moment. She looked back at the stage, how the next girl was already walking down the front of the stage and over to her bidder, and then back at Hikaru, who for once didn't look over confident and cocky, but instead slightly nervous.

"Sure."

Melanie took steps toward him, passing him up after a few strides and then making her way to one of the side exits where she pushed open the door and held it open long enough for Hikaru to follow her into the chilly fall air. She couldn't figure out what was the most unnerving part of the minutes that were passing her by, the awkward, suffocating silence that was filled only with the clacking of her heels against the solid concrete, or the unnatural way Hikaru was portraying himself.

"Can I ask you something?" His voice cut through the air like a knife, low and clear. Melanie felt a giant knot start to form in her throat.

"Of course," She replied, her voice uncharacteristically shrill and even catching her by surprise.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" He asked again, a little bit more rushed and forced than he anticipated, but then he cleared his throat before continuing. "If I did something wrong I want you to tell me."

Melanie shook her head ferociously, laughing awkwardly in an attempt to brush his claim off.

"Nothing is wrong-" She lied, causing Hikaru to shake his head and dismiss her answer.

"Of course something is wrong. We don't go from talking every day and being normal friends to not even looking at each other." He argued, his face slightly heating up at the denial his upperclassman was displaying. The duo had stopped walking, Hikaru facing Melanie while she stared at the ground, pretending to admire her glittering heels. She didn't say anything, which started to annoy Hikaru even more.

" _Look,_ whatever is wrong right now- whatever problem you have with me- can't be fixed if you don't at least tell me what I did." Hikaru broke the silence again. Melanie would be lying if she said that she wasn't at least _slightly_ impressed with the level of maturity that he was displaying, and she finally mustered the courage to look him in the face, which was of course a big mistake. His eyes were big and round, his cheeks a bright pink, and his mouth was pulled into an awfully sad looking frown that made her heart break just looking at it.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to laugh or be angry." Melanie started, taking a deep breath while she examined the confused look that crossed Hikaru's face. One of his eyebrows raised up, and for a brief moment she could have sworn that she saw his eyes roll at her.

"I promise that I won't laugh or be angry."

There was a brief silence between the two, but then Melanie continued.

"A while back I had a dream where I was lying in bed and you were next to me-" She started, only to be cut off already.

"Really? I don't know why that would phase you since we have already shared a bed in case you forgot."

" _I remember that_ , but you didn't let me finish," She gulped hard. "We weren't in a house that was mine or yours, and all of a sudden these kids ran into the room and were jumping on the bed and two of them had this really bright hair and were super energetic and one of them was really quiet and..."

"And?"

Another deep breath.

"I found out that _we_ were their parents. The kids called us mommy and daddy and there were family pictures with all of us nailed onto the wall."

A nerve wrecking silence followed the end of the sentence as Melanie continued looking in Hikaru's face for signs of his reaction. She knew that her cheeks were probably red from how warm they were, but the only change in expression to cross Hikaru's face was the way that one of his eyebrows was raised even higher; a sign that he definitely didn't see that coming.

" _Oh."_

"I know that it's a horrible reason to not want to talk to you but it was such an awkward dream for me that I really just wanted time to be able to wipe it from memory." She continued, running one hand through her hair while she waited for a more lengthy response.

And then suddenly, he started _laughing_.

Melanie's face turned a dark shade of red as she felt her temper start to get the best of her.

" _You promised not to laugh!"_

He didn't stop for a solid minute, wiping away at tears that started to form at the corner of his eyes while the girl in front of him stood there steaming.

"I know I promised but it's just so funny-" He started, laughing a bit more before trying to catch his breath again. Melanie had her arms crossed, completely unamused with the way he was reacting.

"This was _serious_ for me! I didn't want to say something that would ruin our friendship but now I know that obviously there was no need to hide it."

"I can't say that I really think that's a reasonable excuse to just flat out ignore me but I will admit that's a bit _..._ weird to think about." Hikaru replied, looking down at her and the way her cheeks were such a dark shade of crimson.

"Either way, I was wrong. I shouldn't have ignored you."

"I'm just glad you told me because up until this point I thought I had done something wrong. It just turns out that you have once again proven that you're just a hopeless romantic-" Hikaru started, only for Melanie to scoff and hit his arm lightly.

"Stop teasing me!"

"Awww, did you stay up reading _The Notebook_ all night?" He started laughing again as he thought of her sitting in her bed, so caught up in reading that she probably fell asleep with the book in hand.

" _No."_

"Well I highly doubt any sort of Stephen King thriller was going to send the romantic, girly part of your brain into a frenzy like that." Hikaru continued, looking over at the door that they had walked out from earlier and noticing a few businesswomen stepping out doors and immediately pulling out cigarettes and lighters.

"You know Hikaru, if you're just going to continue ridiculing me like this, I think I should probably just keep ignoring you." Melanie replied, tracing his stare over to the women leaning on the side of the building, silently smoking and puffing gray clouds into the air.

"Aw, c'mon Mel, you're no fun. Everything is cleared up now so there is no reason to be so rude." Hikaru teased her some more, starting to walk back towards the building so they could return to the club and finish watching the auction.

A slight smile finally managed to slip on Melanie's face.

"Both of us know that if there is anything that I'm really good at, it's being rude to you." She giggled as she followed him over to the door again, silently greeting the obviously stressed out women and then returning inside.

A:N: Okay, so I know that it's been over a month since I last updated, but sweet Jesus I am _ecstatic_ that I finally have gotten a break to enjoy. I've been non stop trying to work hard for school and in the process I regrettably haven't had much time to do anything I wanted, such as writing.

But anyway, enough with the excuses, here is a new chapter that I hope you'll enjoy, and I'll see you next time.


	15. Chapter 15

Why Me?

Chapter Fifteen

"Mel, you've been in there for at least two hours now." Hikaru groaned as he sat slumped against the doorway of his bathroom while Melanie continued to get ready to leave. That night was a fairly important business party which Hikaru was being forced to attend, and so in an effort to keep him occupied, his parents had invited Melanie along with them. It took quite a bit of convincing, but even they had eventually caught on that with the slightest persuasion, even she could be wavered.

"I am trying to fix my eye liner so can you _please_ just be patient?" She shouted through the door. Hikaru lifted his head off the door momentarily and then let it slam into the wood again with a loud bang. When he got no reaction out of his patient friend, he repeated the gesture again and again until she finally opened the door.

"Can't you stop being obnoxious for just _one more minute?_ " She asked him as he raised his head up to see Melanie's face.

"You need to make your right liner a little thicker towards the end." He commented aloud, ignoring her request as he noticed that her eye make up looked absolutely amazing with the exception of that one minor detail. She had a matte shade of a creamy brown eye shadow on followed with thinly spread black eye liner that kept the look flirty, yet elegant enough to wear to a business party.

"I've been trying to but I keep messing it up." She admitted as she groaned slightly and walked back into the bathroom. Hikaru picked himself up from off of the ground and followed her into the grandiose bathroom, his eyes catching a glimpse of the large array of make up palettes scattered all across the counter top, including multiple make up wipes filled to the brim with black eye liner.

"Let me help you." He offered, picking up the eye liner pen and waiting for Melanie to face him. She closed her eyes, feeling Hikaru's hand underneath her chin as he gently raised it up in order to give him a better view of her face, and soon it was followed by the feeling of cold liner being traced along the edge of her right eye.

For a moment, she felt the pen being lifted off of her face and opened her eyes, a move that was definitely a mistake on her part. Hikaru's eyes were staring right into hers and for the briefest of moments she thought she saw a slight pink blush build in his cheeks, a sight that she had never seen before and made her feel oddly flattered, yet embarrassed.

"I fixed it." Hikaru finally spoke up as he placed the make up back onto the counter space. He took a step back to admire how Melanie's curly hair had been pulled up into a low bun with enough strands pulled out to frame her face perfectly. Her jewelry was modest, just simple silver earrings.

Of everything that she was wearing, he could easily admit that the dress was his favorite.

It was a dark maroon with a sweetheart neckline and was just sleek enough that it hugged her curves until her waist, but then flowed out into a pleated skirt that revealed her amazing legs.

"Do I look okay? I would hate to leave here looking like a mess and then embarrass your family." Melanie started to doubt herself, looking down at her matching silver heels that revealed her painted toes.

"I promise you that tonight you're going to be the most beautiful girl there." Hikaru replied without a second thought, letting the compliment momentarily float through the room before Melanie raised her head and looked right at him. A smile crossed her lips, and for a moment Hikaru could have sworn that his heart stopped beating.

"It's time to leave." Kaoru announced as he knocked on the door, peeking his head into the room to see his favorite brunette standing there. "Melanie, you look absolutely enchanting by the way."

She thanked him sweetly before following his footsteps out the door with his twin in tow.

* * *

As Hikaru opened the door of the gala hall for Melanie, she felt taken aback by how stunning the venue was. The entire banquet hall was brightly lit using a large gilded chandelier and then small candles that adorned the tops of the bright red table cloths, along with a matching bouquet of assorted flowers.

Hikaru held out his arm for Melanie to take, which she gladly accepted, before the two started walking around the room together.

"Hikaru Hitachiin!"

From behind them the pair heard a booming voice start to approach them and as they turned around, Melanie could have sworn she heard Hikaru curse under his breath.

"Mr. Sayama," Hikaru greeted the man approaching them in a much more placid tone, yet with a dazzling smile. From Melanie's view point, it was safe to say that Hikaru didn't seem quite as excited to see the person walking towards them as he tried to make it seem.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in years now! I was just talking to your mother and it seems like you have become a very fine young man just like she said." The person, Mr. Sayama as Hikaru called him, complimented him. Hikaru chuckled as he accepted the praise and then started off onto a conversation full of small talk which Melanie mostly ignored until all of a sudden she heard her name being thrown about.

"Hikaru, would you mind if I asked why you are escorting the eldest daughter of the White empire around this evening? Is there an arranged marriage that I could expect to soon hear about?" Mr. Sayama asked as he cast a glance towards Melanie.

 _What an awkward question to ask someone,_ she thought as she shook her head alongside Hikaru.

"Um, no. I'm sorry to say that there isn't an engagement, not at least that I know of." Hikaru answered, slightly confused, yet trying his best to laugh it off. "We're just good friends."

"You know, her father and I have been trading partners for a _very_ long time. I could never forget the face of the girl who accidentally spilled sake on me when she was only three years old. You're lucky that you have such a great smile, those dimples of yours make it so hard to be angry with you," Mr. Sayama explained further as he looked over and saw Melanie's face dotted with the faintest of red tints.

"Pardon my manners sir, I didn't mean to seem rude." Melanie started to apologize, reaching her hand out towards his as they shook. The amount of force he used was almost enough to make her feel like her arm was in grave danger of being torn off.

"Nonsense, I know that you haven't been around the upper class in quite a while so all is forgiven." The old man seemed to have switched tones from kind to mocking, almost as if he was making fun of her. "It's also why I'm still surprised as to why you are here, Ms. Suzuki."

Hikaru didn't know what to make of the situation at hand, but the overwhelming shame that Melanie was displaying was enough for even him to realize that this conversation had quickly gone south.

"She's my date for this evening, _that_ is why she's here. Now, if you would excuse us, it has been great catching up but I actually wanted to show Ms. Suzuki the fountain out back so we'll have to talk again later," Hikaru lied to the man in front of him, bowing low to show his respect and then pulling his friend farther away from the crowd.

"Thank you for that. I'm sure you could imagine that it's not pleasant to constantly be reminded that I'm not respected anymore just because of what happened between my father and I." Melanie thanked him as they were pushing their way through the crowd. Hikaru didn't reply, whatever he had to say probably wasn't going to make it any better anyway.

As they finally broke through the enormous crowd of people, they stopped for a moment while Hikaru scanned the edges of the ball room for signs of a place to sit. When his eyes laid upon a lounge tucked away in a small corner of the room, partially blocked from the view of the floor unless looking at a certain angle, he immediately knew that it was the perfect secluded spot for them.

"This is breathtaking." Melanie wondered out loud as they passed by a waiter who was holding flutes full of what looked like champagne. Hikaru grabbed two of them as the waiter's head was turned, giving one to his date and keeping one for himself.

"I'm sure that you've been to a few of these before, Mel. There is no reason to be modest." Hikaru assumed as he picked a sofa to sit on and patted the spot next to him for Melanie to join him.

"It has been quite a few years since I could last remember going to an event that was this elegant." She started to recall, sipping on the golden liquid inside the glass in her hand. It was sweet, bubbly and light, yet had the slightest of burning sensations as it ran down the back of her throat.

"Did you father stop going to them?" Hikaru asked, looking over at her contemplating face.

"No, he just stopped bringing me along." She shyly admitted. The confession caused the conversation between the two to come to an awkward stand still as the duo simply took another sip of their beverages.

"Can you tell me more about your family?"

The sudden question caught Melanie off guard, but it wasn't one that she wasn't willing to answer.

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know, tell me about your siblings and your parents." Hikaru said, crossing his legs and leaning back into the back of the black sofa.

"Well, my brother, the one that you met, is really serious which kind of makes sense since he's studying to become a lawyer." Melanie started, feeling slightly homesick at the thought of her siblings.

"I didn't realize that he was that much older than you." Hikaru wondered aloud.

"He's nine years older than me." She countered, holding up nine fingers. He nodded his head as he took in the information and waited for her to continue.

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"He's actually been married to this beautiful Italian woman named Alessandra for a few years now. Bless her heart, my dear sister-in-law is also trying to become a lawyer, but she just found out that she is pregnant so she may have to put that off for a while." Melanie giggled, remembering the moment only a few weeks ago when Liam told her that she was going to become an aunt.

"Wow, that's... kind of crazy." Hikaru admitted, taking another sip before continuing. "Are you excited about becoming an aunt?"

"Definitely, I think it would be interesting to see Liam handle caring for a child. He never struck me as the type of person who would actually want children." She continued staring at Hikaru, watching his face as he actually seemed somewhat surprised.

"Okay, so Liam is a future lawyer whose already started on his family, but don't you have some more siblings?"

"Yea, I have a pair of twin sisters that are two years younger than me. I feel like you guys would really get along actually, because just like you and Kaoru, they love causing trouble and also happen to have a knack for art." She continued, waiting for Hikaru to comment. He scoffed in reply, but couldn't help but let the smallest of smiles cross his face at her teasing.

"Well, I gotta say, they sound like they have a _great_ personalities." He agreed, running one of his hands through his messy hair as Melanie sat there laughing to herself.

"So... what about your father?" Hikaru asked.

"What about him?"

"Well, I know that you hate him-"

"That doesn't even _begin_ to describe how much I loathe him." Melanie sneered, her mood starting to go sour again.

"-but it's honestly been killing me to find out why."

 _Why?_

"I never told you why I hate him so much?" She asked, surprised herself that Hikaru didn't know up to that point.

"I mean you get pretty aggravated if anyone even brings it up so no, I can't say that you have." He commented, looking at her annoyed face that only further proved his point.

Briefly, Melanie closed her eyes and groaned. She had gone out of her way to try to avoid talking about her father up until that point, but she also felt like that of everyone that she knew, Hikaru possibly cared for her the most and she would be lying if she said that she didn't care about him either. She would even go as far as saying that he was her closest friend, but being her closest friend meant that she couldn't just keep him in the dark about certain aspects of her life.

So Melanie pushed herself off of the couch, sneaking over to a table and taking one of the bottles of wine with her before returning to the table and pouring another glass for both of them. She figured that she would need it if she was going to put such a damper on the party's atmosphere.

"I'm sure you've caught on by now but for whatever reason, my dad never liked me. It was very rare that I actually caught a glimpse of either of my parents on a day to day basis since they were both so busy, but even from a young age I couldn't help but feel that he was actively trying to avoid me. It's the exact reason I have put so much practice into all the instruments I play and why I was so good at volleyball. He didn't like having me around and he did everything in his power to make sure that I was out of his hair so I ended up playing the piano a lot and naturally I became very good at it. I could never understand why he acted so different towards me, but I didn't mind it for years because he was my dad and you're _supposed_ to love your parents no matter what. All my friends had parents that spoiled them and loved them and I was so brainwashed with that idea that I didn't even really notice how much he _resented_ me." He could tell by the way her voice strained that she was getting very worked up about it.

"So then what happened? How did you finally realize that you weren't being treated right?" Hikaru asked, examining Melanie's face as she told her story. If it were anyone else, he would have expected her to be angry while telling her tale, but her face revealed that she felt hurt, that the frown on her face was truly there for good reason.

"About a month before I moved to Japan, my parents got into the worst argument I had ever heard. Like most couples they had their ups and downs but I was so hypnotized at the idea of the classic American family with parents that love each other that I didn't even know what to think about that fight they had that night. They were screaming at each other and throwing things for hours, which within itself sounds bad but I didn't know why they were so angry that time. So of course I was curious enough that I heard bits and pieces of the end of their conversation and that was when I heard something about cheating."

"Cheating?"

"As in infidelity. Adultery. Unfaithfulness. The works."

Hikaru nodded his head silently as he took the story in, he didn't know how the two stories that she had just told him were connected but he was more than sure that she was about to tell him.

"My father kicked me and my mother out that night. When he found out I was listening in he told me that compared to my brother and sisters, I was irrelevant. He looked me in the eye and told me that I was a stain on the family name and that was really what broke my heart. I remember how we cried for the longest time and we ended up staying in a hotel just a few blocks away from where our condo was. I didn't want to accept what had happened. I thought my parents were in love, I thought that he loved _me_ , but it took me a long time to cope with the fact that he didn't and I was just an extra mouth to feed. It was that night when I started to understand that I didn't have a relationship with him at all and that he hated me."

"Is that why you were always crying for the first few months that you were here?" Hikaru asked, thinking back to the very first time they met when she was just a shell of the person she was at that moment. The same girl who had dragged herself into the music room, eyes puffy from the tears that she had shed and her yellow dress ripped from getting stuck in the door, with a quiet personality to match, had now made the transformation into a compassionate woman who finally started thinking about herself and for whatever reason, it made Hikaru have faint feelings of pride in her.

Melanie nodded her head, pouring another glass for her and drinking most of it before replying.

"Exactly the reason why." She answered, drinking the last quarter of her fourth glass of wine all in one sip before setting it on the table in front of her. Hikaru placed his still partly full glass on the table, then raised his hand and pulled it through his hair while he waited for Melanie to say something.

The two sat there in silence for a few minutes after wards, not making any eye contact as the string orchestra continued to play elegant background music and business partners all across the room started to dance to the song. As Hikaru looked up from the floor, he saw Kaoru talking to a girl they knew over by the food bar, cracking a smile as she excitedly told him something and then smirking when she leaned closer and whispered in his ear. At least he had managed to still make this dreadful event somewhat exciting.

When Hikaru turned to his left again, he saw Melanie start to stand up, briefly closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she reached her full height. When she opened them again, she gazed all across the room, looking at each and every persons face and how not a single one looked like they were dreading waking up every day.

And neither should she.

"Hey Hikaru, let's get out of here."

At the sound of his name, Hikaru's ears perked up but he raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"Get out of here?" He repeated, trying to make sure he correctly understood what the girl in front of him was trying to say. Melanie grabbed another two flutes of champagne off of an unsuspecting waiter's tray, giving one of them to Hikaru again before she took a quick sip off the top of her own.

"Yea, like lets walk the streets and finally see something. I feel like I've been here for a year and haven't actually done anything in the city and I really want to." Melanie explained as she set her glass on the table and started to pull at the jacket of her underclassman in an effort to sway him closer to her. Hikaru couldn't wrap his head around what just happened, but if she was suggesting a fun time, he was more than for it.

"Hell yeah, let's do it." He said as he took a long sip of his champagne, Melanie smiling widely at him before finishing hers off too and then pulling him by his tie off of the sofa and grabbing his hand. The duo once again pushed their way through the crowd towards where the grand french doors of the plaza were, and then eagerly pushed through those too. In the medium sized room they had entered was a small reception desk with three female workers behind them, all minding their own business and not paying attention to the two teenagers who had suddenly left the loud party behind them. Hikaru scanned the area for the sign that would lead them to the exit doors, but once he noticed Melanie start to walk off, he followed her until they reached a single door at the end of the corridor. A large cream colored sign hung off of it that read 'employee exit only', which she seemed to ignore as she pulled the door open to reveal the back streets of what looked like a busy food district.

Melanie and Hikaru exchanged brief looks of excitement as they saw what seemed like billions of common people walk by, some already drunk and some hauling their drunk friends into cabs. There wasn't going to be anyone looking at them and expecting the utmost perfect behavior, no one was going to force them to have to talk to stuck up aristocrats with attitude problems, and for two tipsy high schoolers, that seemed absolutely perfect.

"Are you ready to do this?" Hikaru asked, scanning the large banners that were waving over the tops of many buildings. Each one of them showcased a sort of specialty food or dance or drink, and he couldn't wait to try them all.

"Let's have the time of our lives."

* * *

A:N: Okay, so I'm not going to act like l have any sort of excuse for not updating since October other than my school work but l do hope this chapter makes up for it at least a little bit. I was missing this story and l always have it on the back of my mind, such as thinking of scenarios and stuff, so please do take comfort in knowing that l won't ever forget it, especially since l've come this far. It is definitely going to be finished one day.

Anyway, since l last updated l have come back to quite a few more favorites and follows which is always appreciated! I hope to see more people in the future that will like my story along with everyone who has been here since the beginning, or tagged along since then.

Hope everyone has a good (insert period of time here until next update). I'll see ya next time.


	16. Chapter 16

Why Me?

Chapter Sixteen

"What should we do first?" Hikaru asked as he grabbed Melanie's hand and pulled her out into the fast moving crowd with him. She briefly felt heat rise in her cheeks the second she felt his skin touch hers, but the sober part of her mind was telling her that it was probably just the alcohol doing that.

Nevertheless, she loved it.

She _really_ loved it.

"Honestly we should drink some water so that we don't wake up with bad hangovers tomorrow-" Melanie started, only to be cut off by Hikaru's laughter.

"Wow, even when you're borderline drunk you're still thinking about stuff like that? C'mon, live a little. The hangover is part of the _adventure_ , Mel." Hikaru countered, not making eye contact with her but still scanning the buildings for some place interesting to go to. Melanie's lips pulled into a frown and she furrowed her eyebrows at his comment; was she being too strict even now when she was trying to have fun? She stuck her tongue out at Hikaru, who returned the favor playfully.

But honestly, if anyone were ever to stop her and ask her for a phrase that would perfectly describe Hikaru, that would be it. His entire personality could be summed up by the sarcastic, yet entirely endearing and seductively delicious phrase that was _live a little._

Suddenly, he cut her off and pulled her into an antique shop with him, filled to the brim with old timely looking pictures, lamps, and even ceramics. The store atmosphere was eerily quiet with the exception of a mother who's toddler was pointing at every little model car and oohing with wonder.

Hikaru stopped right at the center of the display that lined the front of the store and stared right into the eye of a beautiful bright red camera. It's old metal exterior was starting to chip and Melanie was sure that it didn't even work anymore, but somehow that mesmerized Hikaru as he reached both hands out and started to pick it up, lightly touching the worn edges and surveying the empty roll of film that was still in the cavity of the object.

"Do you remember how I told you that I was really getting into photography?" Hikaru quietly asked, not taking his eyes off of the camera and wiping the thin layer of dust off of the top of it.

"Of course I remember," She answered, partly looking at the camera but mostly paying attention to Hikaru's face. Perhaps it was her almost dream like state or maybe it was just the way he looked in the illuminating yellow light that shone over their heads, but there was something about the way that he looked in that moment that made him seem...

What would be the word she was looking for?

"I did a lot of research into cameras and I found out that my grandfather had one exactly like this." Hikaru started explaining, beginning to put the camera back on it's stand in the glass frame. "It was almost like an achievement to have one back in his time and he used to always tell me stories about the pictures he had taken on his camera which I always thought was completely fascinating."

 _Fascinating._

 _I think that's the word I'm looking for._

As Hikaru continued to tell his story, Melanie couldn't help having the corners of her mouth pull up into a wide smile. Hikaru's liquid gold eyes shined brightly in the dim light, his hair that had earlier been perfectly combed back had started to come out of place, making him look wild, adventurous. The way he looked at the camera with care yet he seemed excited and passionate made Melanie's heart swell up. Just a year ago she thought he was stuck up, cocky, arrogant beyond compare, the only care he had was making sure that his hair was perfect or that his needs were taken care of. Now though, when she really looked back on it, he cared _so much_ , not just about his passions or interests, but also about the people around him. He loved his friends, he was madly in love with the idea that they could rely on him and he would protect them at all costs.

And she loved that about him.

"Mel? Are you paying attention?" Hikaru asked, snapping his fingers in her face and cocking an eyebrow up at her spacing out. Melanie shook her head momentarily, focusing again on the situation at hand and waiting pleasantly for Hikaru to continue.

"I'm sorry, I was just... thinking." She admitted. The red head in front of her placed the camera silently on the shelf and then turned around again, waiting at the open door for her to follow him outside.

"It's really amazing how often you do that." He murmured, louder than he intended but when she beamed at him, he of course beamed right back.

As the two reentered the crowd again, the electric energy that first inhabited them soon sparked again. They eagerly were scouring the streets for another place to enter, and as soon as Melanie caught sight of a place she thought looked even mildly interesting, she pulled on the sleeve of Hikaru's jacket and soon tugged him inside with her.

"Is this... a thrift store?" Hikaru asked as he slowly walked in, hesitant to fully immerse his body into the brightly lit store. Melanie had a fairly tight grasp on his wrist though, and her tugging was over powering his restraint.

"It sure is- a savvy shopper's dream." She replied back, stopping just long enough to spot the women dresses and then marching over there.

"So, is it true that all of the things in this store are..." He almost felt a knot start forming in his throat as the words left his lips. " _secondhand?_ "

"For the most part, yes." She answered, pulling out a dreadfully old fashioned dress that had the sort of floral pattern on it that you would normally only see on a ninety year old's Sunday get up. Before he could even say anything, she stuffed it back on the railing.

Hikaru made eye contact with one of the employees, who flashed him a forced smile before turning back to her coworker. The both of them began gossiping about the two teenagers who loudly entered the store in their attire that's worth more than their yearly paychecks.

"What do you think about this dress?" Melanie asked as she pulled another sun dress off the line. This one had a black top that ended at the waist line, and was followed by numerous burgundy and white stripes underneath. A Hitachiin original.

"It's simplistic, but I would personally say that it's some of Kaoru's best work."

"Should I try it on?"

"If you would like to. We have all the time in the world so you can try on all the dresses you'd like." He replied. She cocked up an eyebrow, not because she was wondering if he was sincere, but rather because she was wondering if she should take the time to try on the dress if she didn't even have any money on her.

She of course decided that she had nothing to lose so she might as well, and along the way she applied that theory to another twenty dresses.

"So... it doesn't bother you that these clothes are already worn?" He asked, absent mindedly sitting on the bench in the middle of the aisle while he watched his friend search through the endless stream of clothes.

"Not at all. It's _because_ they're worn that they're cheap. It's a great option for people who can't or just don't want to spend a lot of money on clothes." She answered as she pulled out another dress, this time a maxi that had small polka dots on it.

 _These places are so inviting because they're affordable?_

The conversation grew still again as he started pondering to himself.

"Would you be willing to wear more Hitachiin if it was more affordable?" He asked, patiently waiting for an answer as he sat and started already contemplating ideas.

"I think a lot of people would be willing to do that."

"But would _you_?" A silence followed as he reiterated his question.

"I'd honestly wear it every day if I could." Melanie finally replied as she pulled back from the rack and swiped off the miniscule amount of dust that had accumulated on top of her skirt. She had finally finished up her window shopping.

"Okay, so what if I designed an entire line of affordable Hitachiin clothes for you?"

"For me?"

"Well inspired by you, mainly for you, but I'll make it available for everyone if you'd like." The wheels in his head were turning, and regardless of her answer he already knew that his idea was going to be great.

She nodded her head vigorously, a grin enveloping her face from ear to ear. Her smile was completely infectious, as he never could help but return it time after time.

"That's really kind of you. I know you don't have to do anything like that but it really means a lot to me that you're willing to anyway." Melanie finally said after she put up all of the dresses that she had tried on. Hikaru nodded back at her, slowly walking over to where she stood and pulling a few strands of hair out of her face.

"Of course I would, I honestly believe that there is nothing that I wouldn't do for you." Hikaru replied softly, letting the words linger in the air. Melanie's face had flushed to a rosy pink, she wasn't sure if she would have actually been able to say anything even if the cashiers hadn't yelled at them at that exact moment that they were closing. The duo quickly ushered themselves out of the store and once again found themselves walking down the brightly lit street to who knows where.

* * *

Perhaps the loudest building on the street that night was the restaurant that the two had entered after the thrift store. Initially Hikaru was shell shocked at the nature of the place, it was far from the normal fine dining that he was used to and was instead somewhat closer to a club rather than a restaurant. The people that inhabited the large space all seemed to be working class citizens, men and women alike all were crowded around large tables drinking to their hearts content, while in the very center of the floor plan was an enormous space devoted to all kinds of dancing and the loud, folk-like music that a live band was playing right next to it.

Melanie turned to Hikaru with wide, bright eyes and held on tight to his jacket with two hands. Hikaru had never seen her like this before, eager for every opportunity the night had to offer her and not skipping a beat.

"Let's dance!" Melanie screamed happily over the music, starting to take Hikaru's dark blue blazer off for him while he looked bewildered at her.

"I don't even know what type of dance they're doing!" Hikaru exclaimed, but not fighting Melanie as she took the blazer off and stuck it on a chair nearby.

" _Wow Hikaru_ , even when you're borderline drunk you're still thinking about stuff like that? _Live a little._ " Melanie mocked him playfully, pulling all of her hair out of the style she had spent an hour doing and letting it flow freely onto her shoulders.

Hikaru smirked at her words, rolling up his sleeves and watching as she pulled off her heels and stepped barefoot on to the ground.

"Let's dance!" Melanie exclaimed as she once again started pulling him in the direction of the floor. Hikaru didn't know what sort of dance she was doing, but her feet were moving as fast as lightning and she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely, so he knew he had to at least try to join her.

"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do!" Hikaru yelled over the loud beating of the music. Without a single word, Melanie took his hands and placed them around her waist, instantly pulling him much closer to her than they ever were before.

"Just follow my lead!" She promised him as her feet moved back and forth in a pattern of various, but repetitive motions. Once Hikaru got the hang of it, he started to fall into the beat of the song they were dancing to and eventually caught up to Melanie's pace. Many of the people sitting at the tables started to catch on to the one couple on the dance floor that seemed to be radiating more energy than anyone else there on that Thursday night, how they were moving so easily together and continued to laugh whenever one of them messed up. Soon enough, someone started clapping, then a few more joined in, then even more until the entire restaurant had their eyes on the two in the center, their feet moving, dress twirling, eyes sparkling.

"Hey! The two of you should join us for some drinks! Seems like you're about to start sweating up a storm up there and you need to stay hydrated!" A woman from a nearby table called to them. She was sitting with a few men, but plenty of women, all of whom were seated with beers in front of them.

Before either of the two could even reply, two clear colored liquids were stuffed into their hands. When the entire table started raising their glasses up and cheering, the two of them clinked their glasses together and drank the contents in one sip, with Hikaru threatening to cough up a storm when he started getting the feeling that his throat was actually on fire.

"What the _hell_ was that?" He managed to get out in between coughs, while Melanie laughed hysterically at him, rubbing his back in comfort.

"It's just a little something that'll help you loosen up." One of the men at the table answered, grabbing another glass and raising it back into the air. Everyone at the table clinked glasses again before swallowing the shot whole, leaving Hikaru and Melanie standing there, laughing at the display of friendship that was taking shots together on a Thursday night.

When Hikaru heard the song changed, he took one of Melanie's hands and pulled her back onto the dance floor, catching her by surprise as he lifted his arm up and twirled her outwards, then back in until she was close enough to him that their chests were almost touching. The dancing they were doing was playful, it was _exciting,_ not the boring waltzing that he had been forced to do for however long at any formal school function. Everyone there just wanted to have a good time and forget about life for a while, a situation that he could get more than used to.

He twirled Melanie again, this time her laugh cutting through the air as her dress briefly came up enough to show a scandalous amount of leg, but she was so lost in the moment and the music that she didn't care, earning herself a cheeky whistle and a flirtatious amount of teasing.

As the song reached its end, Hikaru twirled her one last time, but when she got close enough, he let go of her hand and reached his hands around her waist, picking her up until she was high enough that the entire restaurant could see her glowing face and her untamed hair the color of rich, milk chocolate. With her hands on his shoulders, the entire building seemed to go quiet as they continued dancing. _She was flying,_ her dress floating and her mind was wandering in the clouds, all she could see was her partners face, so young, full of smirks and grins, and it made her heart race faster and faster. The smile on her face could be seen from halfway across the world, and before she even could think about it she took her hands off of his shoulders and brought them up to the sides of his face. She didn't have control of herself anymore, perhaps it was the music or the cheering or the feeling of actually being wanted and having more fun than she ever had before, but she started to rub over the apples of his cheeks and she let her eyes trace the motion of his lips gently.

Hikaru couldn't describe the feeling that was welling up inside of him. That moment when her feet lifted up off the ground and she began to sore overhead, when all he was doing was looking up at her face while she had her eyes closed, just tracing the apple of her cheeks, the rosy flush to them and the dewy glow to her skin, or even her smile-

Oh God, _her smile._

The way she smiled at him made his heart threaten to leap right out of his chest. The way her dimples showed whenever her lips pulled into even the slightest of grins, or the way her cheeks were lighting up with beautiful blush whenever they got close enough that their bodies touched. It didn't even faze him when her hands left his shoulders and touched the sides of his face or when her thumb started to caress the apples of his cheeks.

Melanie's hazel eyes locked with Hikaru's amber ones and he slowly started to place her back on the ground. Both their heads were spinning with the amount of energy that was floating around the room, the thunderous clapping surrounding them, the feeling of the pounding of the drums echoing off of the floor and into their ears.

Maybe it was because Hikaru had too much to drink, or just because he could barely think straight, but he wanted to get even closer to Melanie. His eyes trailed down her face, falling from her eyes down to her lips as he felt the urge to kiss her over come him. He wanted to feel her fingers make their way through his hair and he wanted to taste the way her rose colored lips felt against his.

She knew that he wasn't looking at her eyes anymore, and she felt that was perfectly fine because she wasn't looking at his anymore either. Not a rational thought was running through her head as she slowly started to lean in, tilting her head, closing her eyes and hoping that he would close the distance between the two as she fully immersed herself in the smell of his cologne and let her practicality simply dissolve in the heat of the moment.

At least, she _would_ have let herself go through with it.

The sudden crash of glass breaking and people cheering had stopped the duo dead in their tracks as they both whipped their head around and looked over curiously at the source of the noise. Not even ten feet away from them was a puddle of dark amber colored beer that was leaking from the bottle that was now broken and lying in the liquid and the table had already proceeded to down another round of shots.

Hikaru let go of Melanie's skin, all of a sudden too embarrassed to go even think about what had almost happened. It didn't stop Melanie from glancing up at him, her head swaying side to side and her lips pulled up as she started humming softly to herself and smiling sweetly at anyone that looked at her.

What would happen now? Does their adventure continue or were they supposed to go back to the boring party? Hikaru checked his watch, and through the blurriness of his vision, he saw that it was getting a bit too late for them to continue exploring.

The air that hit them when they walked outside was chilly to say the least, but they had been inside long enough for the streets to clear and the pace of traffic to slow considerably so it was easier to navigate their lengthy walk back to where the party should have been coming to its end.

Much of the journey back was filled with silence as the excitement of their night out had started to wear off. Melanie had intertwined hands with Hikaru and was leaning against his shoulder as they made their way down the street. Already she was starting to form a horrible headache that came with her incredibly low tolerance for alcohol and the closer she got to the hotel lounge, the more she wanted to sleep.

"Hey, nice ass!"

Melanie's ears perked up considerably as she stopped walking, turning around and looking behind her to see a group of university aged men walking by, some of them laughing and high fiving the one that presumably had just cat called her. Hikaru looked irritated, yet tried to pull her along with him as his headache started to develop too, but she soon resisted.

" _Excuse you? Say that to my face asshole!"_ Melanie yelled back at them, surprisingly garnering all four of the men to turn around and look at her.

"Relax! It's a compliment," One of them said, laughing at her angry demeanor.

"Nobody wants to hear that shit. It's not a compliment." She continued, starting to walk over to them and eventually getting close enough that she even pushed one of them. She couldn't really balance all that well, but she wasn't going to let her intoxication stop her from giving him a piece of her mind.

" _Mel!_ What are you doing?" Hikaru exclaimed as she tried to start a fight with them. Hikaru walked over and grabbed her, trying to haul her back with him and the men in front of him rolled their eyes.

"Why does she have to be such a bitch about it anyway!" One of them sneered, then turned around and continued walking with his friends, laughing again when she just started to get angrier and angrier.

" _Hikaru! Let_ go _of me! What is wrong with you!"_ She commanded, trying to wiggle her way out of his grip but not having much success before he practically pushed her out of his arms.

"What do you mean what is wrong with _me?_ I didn't just try to start a fight in the streets! Are you _insane?"_ He shouted at her, now starting to feel anger boil up inside him at her behavior.

"I could have kicked their asses!"

"I would have liked to see you try!"

Melanie huffed, sitting down on a bench in front of an all-you-can-eat buffet and pouting while she tried to come up with a comeback.

"Melanie, that is so stupid of you and you know it! You're the responsible one! You shouldn't be trying to fight random guys on the street; that's too dangerous for someone like you-" Hikaru started explaining only to be cut off by the girl's enraged outburst.

" _Someone like me?_ That's so pretentious, even for you! Why don't you just leave me alone, Hikaru!" Melanie finished as she got up and tried to retain her balance, getting close to him and then placing her hands on his chest before pushing him and then clumsily walking off in the direction of the plaza.

Hikaru momentarily sat back and watched her enter the building, not feeling any sort of remorse whatsoever for his actions, instead he also walked toward the plaza, entering its doors and waiting in the bathrooms for the stupid party to be over.

* * *

A:N: Wow, so um... I'm sure anyone reading this is tired of hearing it but let me list my usual excuses: school, work, life in general, blah blah blah reasons I haven't updated in months and missed the one year anniversary of my story-

Now that I have that sappy shit out of the way, it's finally summer vacation and I for one am happy about that. It's been a _stressful_ year but I won't bore you with the details. I'm hoping to update more often now since I've had this chapter and about 2 more written for almost a year now and school's done for another two months but as always we'll see how this works out.

When I wrote this chapter last summer, I really enjoyed it and I honestly still do but damnnnnn do I like to write in conflicts whenever I can. That ending part wasn't even part of the original outline, I literally added it in just because I live for angst and drama and being extra and what is honestly more extra than getting the characters drunk and having a good time and then BOOM they fightin again. That's that GOOD shit good shit good shit right there~

Alrighty, it's almost four am. I'm supposed to be up in an hour. I'll hopefully upload again soon but for now I hope every one enjoyed this chapter enough to forgive me for waiting however long again to update. (Thanks for reading!)


	17. Chapter 17

Why Me?

Chapter Seventeen

Every morning for three days straight whenever Melanie awoke in her bed, she proceeded to have the worst headache in her entire life. Every creak, bang, or even sound of running water caused her head to want to explode from the inside out. The sound of human speech made her feel dizzy and nauseous, but she had at least managed to avoid it until Monday morning came and she had to return to school.

School. Host club. _Hikaru._

She would be lying if she said that she wasn't angry with him anymore. She didn't remember most of that Thursday night but in the back of her mind she still had a lingering memory of her trying to defend herself and him holding her back. There was a brief exchange of rude words between them and then she walked off, right? The memory was so hazy that it hurt her head even more to try and remember it.

That afternoon when she walked into the host club, she refused to even look in his direction as she walked directly towards the piano bench and set her stuff down. There was a permanent frown on her face that wasn't left unnoticed by most of the club members.

"Kyoya-senpai, do you know if something's wrong with Melanie?" Haruhi asked her upperclassman as she walked by with an empty pot of tea. Kyoya didn't look up at her but continued typing on his computer.

"It seems that there was a bit of an... altercation between her and Hikaru again." Kyoya answered. If he was being honest, he didn't fully understand what happened either, but according to Kaoru, Hikaru came back home on Thursday night drunk and angry at Melanie, and by the looks of it, it wouldn't surprise him if the same situation had been upsetting her.

"I don't think I've ever seen Mel-chan this angry before," Hunny walked up to the table with Mori. "Hikaru must have really upset her if she's still in such a bad mood."

"It wouldn't surprise me. All of us are well aware that he is infamous for not thinking before he speaks." Haruhi replied, looking over at the table that the twins were sharing with two guests. Hikaru was sitting there, eyebrows deeply furrowed and he shared the same menacing frown that Melanie had on her face. Kaoru was pretending not to be bothered by it, but even he glanced at him every once in a while with a look of concern.

"Well I wouldn't exactly put the blame on Hikaru this time." Kyoya admitted, raising an eyebrow and staring directly at Melanie who was sitting by the piano silently. She wasn't playing any music and while he would usually be angry at her, even he had sympathy for the remains of the hangover that was still lingering with her.

"What do you mean, Kyo-chan?"

"You think that Melanie started it?" Mori asked, quite skeptical at the notion himself.

"I was talking to Kaoru about it earlier and he told me that when Hikaru returned from his family's event last week, he was yelling about how irresponsible she was and that she could have gotten hurt." Kyoya explain, only to hear a slight scoff from Tamaki who was walking over after his last appointment left.

"I understand that too well." He mumbled under his breath, causing Haruhi's face to flush slightly darker.

"I wonder what really happened," Hunny wondered out loud before seeing one of his regular guests walk through the door. Mori and him left the table quietly after that in order to greet her.

The remaining three hosts just stood there, completely silent while they all contemplated to themselves. It wasn't that often that they had conflict between the members and usually they could be solved by civil means, but in this case they didn't even know what had happened and so there was no way to come up with a reasonable solution.

After a few more minutes, the twin's guests left, leaving Hikaru and Kaoru by themselves while they waited for the next group of girls to come in.

Kaoru glanced at his brother, who was glaring angrily at the ground with his arms crossed.

"So... I'm guessing that you're still upset?" He asked, not wanting to invoke anymore fury but still very curious.

"She tried to start a fight and then when I told her she was being irrational she tried to act like _I'm_ the bad guy." Hikaru muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Kaoru to hear.

"Is that really all there is to it? I don't think that you would be riled up for 3 days just over something like that."

"I mean I remember we were having a great time. We went into an antique shop and a thrift store and we talked about maybe making an affordable line of Hitachiin products. After that we went into this bar and danced for who knows how long and then we even almost-" Hikaru suddenly stopped and his face went a dark shade of red. He raised both of his hands up to his face to try and cover it and then just sat there groaning loudly while Kaoru looked at him with full concern.

"Then you almost did what?"

Hikaru let his eyes peek through his fingers and then stared at his brother, taking a deep breath before he continued.

"We almost... kissed."

"..."

"..."

" _Oh_."

"Please don't say it like that. It makes it seem like you were expecting it." Hikaru moaned a bit louder. Kaoru didn't really know what to make of the information. He had a hunch for a while that Hikaru did care deeply for Melanie, more than he let anyone know, but he also felt that it was rotten luck for such an intimate moment like that to happen and then be ruined by some stupid fight.

"Do you really wanna know what I think?"

"I have a feeling that you're going to tell me anyway." Hikaru muttered childishly. Kaoru ignored him.

"I think that the reason you're so upset now is because now that you and her almost kissed, you can never look at her in a platonic way anymore, only in a romantic way, but you're rejecting it and turning it into anger-" Kaoru suggested, immediately being cut off by his twin.

"Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous!" Hikaru whispered furiously. He kept shaking his head over and over again, but it came across as more of a plea to convince himself than him emphasizing his feelings.

"C'mon Hikaru, the whole scenario is being blown out of proportion. Yea, Melanie trying to pick a fight is wrong but you really don't have a reason to be so angry that she was putting herself in danger unless you care about her a lot more than you are letting on." Kaoru explained, causing Hikaru to turn quiet.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, Hikaru continued staring at the ground and thinking while Kaoru had started looking across the room at Melanie, who had finally started playing but wasn't doing it with the normal effort and passion that she would usually put into it. Did _she_ remember everything from that night? If so, was she also angry because of feelings that she couldn't accept? Kaoru shook his head, even with a hangover Melanie was much more reasonable than Hikaru was, she must have managed to move past it.

"I..." Hikaru raised his head but didn't look Kaoru in the eye. "I was just so worried, you know? Like she never acts irresponsible or puts herself in danger but when she did and I tried to help her, she made it seem like I tried to _hurt_ her instead."

Kaoru simply nodded as his brother confessed his feelings to him, easily understanding where they were coming from.

"Well have you tried telling her that?"

"Of course not, I can't be the one to give in first because then it makes it seem like I'm wrong." Hikaru automatically shot the idea down. His twin released a deep sigh and shook his head.

"Remember when Melanie told you that you need to stop being so stubborn all the time? I think this is the time to really try that philosophy out." Kaoru finished their conversation as their next guest walked up to the table and smiled eagerly at them. He shot her a charming smile back and stopped paying attention to his sulking brother.

Later that afternoon, everyone had left with the exception of Melanie, Tamaki, and Haruhi. The latter two, who had decided to meet up with Kyoya to discuss plans, exchanged quick looks when they noticed the piano player putting the wood cover of the keys down. Her face was still kind of pinched, but she really didn't look all that aggravated anymore, just exhausted.

"Hey Melanie, can we talk before you leave?" Tamaki called out from across the room, grabbing her attention and for the first time that day, a sheepish smile.

"Of course."

Tamaki, with Haruhi in tow, started walking over to her but stopped a few feet short to ensure some space in between them.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you and Hikaru?" Tamaki asked her. Her concern over the question was limited to her eyes getting slightly wider and some simple stuttering over words.

"N-Nothing happened-"

"Please don't lie to me, it really doesn't suit you."

Melanie bit her bottom lip momentarily. While she did feel safe speaking to Tamaki about the subject, she had the eery feeling that she was about to get scolded, almost as if she were a child.

"I really don't remember most of what happened, but last Thursday I remember that we had left a restaurant or something and some random guy catcalled me. I think I pushed him and yelled at him but then he got kind of aggressive. I was about to punch him when Hikaru pulled me back and told me to stop being stupid." Melanie told the story the best she could, trying to work around the parts that she wasn't completely sure about. Tamaki nodded his head as he listened to the story. Already he knew the dilemma Hikaru was going through and by the way Haruhi was nervously tapping her foot, he could tell she was on the same page.

"In all honesty, it wasn't wise for you to even think about fighting him." Haruhi admitted, forcing a weak smile onto her face.

"Okay so Hikaru held you back, but I don't understand where the anger comes in. I mean, I'm sure he did probably come across as rude, but he was just trying to help, right?" Tamaki continued.

"I guess the thing that made me so angry was that for so long he's been telling me to stick up for myself and not just let people trample over me and then when I was going to actually do something about it, he was holding me back." Melanie answered. Her entire explanation seemed forced, confused, and harsh.

Tamaki nodded his head. It was completely understandable that she would find the thought upsetting.

"But you do realize that you were really putting yourself in danger right?"

"Well now I do, but it just took me three days to recognize that."

"I know you probably don't want to but I think you should apologize to him." Haruhi suggested. Melanie didn't seem completely intrigued by the notion.

"I know at times you can be stubborn, especially when it comes to Hikaru, but I also know that neither of you want to sacrifice your friendship just over something like this." Tamaki finished, smiling brightly at Melanie in hopes of getting her to return the favor. She groaned slightly at the thought, but by the time she had parted ways from Haruhi and Tamaki, she seemed to have warmed up to the idea.

* * *

Before school the next morning, Melanie and Haruhi were walking through the hallways of the academy, talking and laughing about some of the antics that Tamaki had suggested the night before. As they reached class 1-A, Haruhi peeked into the classroom and saw Hikaru and Kaoru sitting in the back, talking with some of their friends outside of the host club.

"Aren't you going to go in, Haruhi?" Melanie asked, wondering what the hold up was about. She pulled her head out of the classroom again and gave a serious look to the piano player, making sure she knew that she meant business.

"Hikaru's inside."

"I will apologize eventually."

"But don't you want to get it out of the way now? That way you can enter the club today and all will be blown over and we can all be friends again?" Haruhi suggested. Melanie raised an eyebrow at the phrasing she used but let a sly smirk cross her face.

"You know Haruhi, ever since you and Tamaki started dating behind our backs, you sure have been becoming more and more like him."

Haruhi gulped loudly and her face started to redden. Any sort of fake explanation for her behavior was coming out very choppy.

"Relax, all I'm saying is that next time the both of you go out to a commoner's festival and decide to hold hands, don't forget that there is always the possibility that my mom and I are there." Melanie explained, enjoying the embarrassment to cross Haruhi's face but the smile was quickly wiped off of her face when she realized something.

 _I'm starting to become more and more like Hikaru._

Now _there_ was a reason to be angry with him again. Having his bad habits rub off on her like that was annoying.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Besides, the both of you are cute together." She giggled quietly. Haruhi smiled genuinely at her before taking a deep breath.

"All I'm saying is, Hikaru's not going to do it first either so I think while you have downtime you may as well take the initiative." Haruhi explained, looking back into the classroom again and seeing that this time Hikaru was just sitting there, flipping his pencil and having the same bored expression on his face while Kaoru continued talking.

Melanie poked her head into the classroom after Haruhi walked inside and was met with the loud greetings of the girls who were all sitting in a large group in the front row. She looked towards the back of the room, noticing the bright red heads of the twins over the mass of normal brown hair.

 _But how am I supposed to get his attention?_

"Suzuki! This is the wrong classroom!"

She felt her blood run cold when she heard her name being called and immediately pulled her head from the classroom, her breath shallow and her entire face dark red from the utter embarrassment.

 _Nope, not today. I guess I'm just going to have to do without apologizing-_

"Mel?"

And there went that familiar voice again. Why could she not have a nervous breakdown without someone always having to interrupt her?

"You can stop trying to pretend that you didn't hear me, we both know your hearing isn't _that_ bad." Hikaru teased her. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was leaning against the wall with her hands covering her face as if by doing that no one would notice her.

"Excuse you, my hearing is perfectly fine!" She snapped at him, peeking through her fingers and looking directly into his face. It surprised her that he seemed completely at ease, a sly smile was once again sneaking up the corners of his lips and his eyes were shining brightly. He really did seem like nothing was wrong, as if all anger that he had held had completely disappeared, or rather that it never happened at all.

"I'm glad to hear that."

That sounded so genuine, especially with the way that his shy grin had turned into a full fledged smile, that she couldn't help but return the favor, even if she was still too embarrassed to show her face completely.

"Um, I'd like to talk to you."

"About what?" He was still grinning from ear to ear. Was something wrong with him?

"About last week, when we got into that argument."

Hikaru nodded his head in a silent reply, not saying anything while he stubbornly, yet patiently awaited for her to continue. Melanie cleared her throat.

"I was just angry, I never really had the confidence to stand up for myself so when that guy came around and disrespected me, I was just so fed up that I snapped, even though I guess you could say the alcohol in my system helped me out a little bit." She laughed awkwardly at the end, but was taken aback when Hikaru's eyebrows furrowed slightly and he took a deep breath.

"It was reckless though, and kind of stupid-" Hikaru started, but Melanie clearing her throat made him rethink the statement. "but I just want to make it clear that it scared me. What were you really going to do if one of them hit you back? Bite their ankles?"

Melanie almost argued with him, but one serious look from her friend made her stay quiet.

"I don't mean to make it sound like you aren't bad ass, because of course you are, but we all have physical limitations, and besides, it really worried me seeing you try to take on someone that was twice your size and three times as wide." Hikaru continued scolding her. Ordinarily she would disagree, but she honestly couldn't remember that much about what the guy or his friends looked like, so she figured that it was best to just keep her thoughts to herself.

"You were worried about me?"

" _Was I?_ If he even _thought_ of laying a finger on you I would have punched him myself." Hikaru replied without a second thought, but when he saw the sly smirk that formed on Melanie's face, he felt his cheeks grow warmer and cleared his throat. "Not that I'm serious about that of course."

"Thank you, Hikaru. That means more than you know."

He was taken aback at the sentimental statement. How many times had she actually thanked him since they knew each other? Maybe twice? Perhaps three times but that was the maximum.

Melanie mumbled something next, it was incoherent and low, but if she would pick her head up from the ground, he probably would have been able to hear it.

"What was that?"

A mumble again, this time a louder but still not perfectly clear.

"Can you say that one more time? I think I have the gist of what you're saying but I want to savor it more." He teased again. He could tell that she was trying to act annoyed, but the way that she couldn't stop smiling long enough to frown told him all he needed to know.

" _I said I was sorry."_

"What's that? Melanie is apologizing to _me?"_ Hikaru recited louder, bending over and getting slightly in her face. She was enjoying herself immensely, the way her eyes were sparkling and her dimples were so prominent, it was so adorable and he couldn't help messing with her some more.

"Shut up, of course I'm not." She giggled her entire way through the sentence. The banter between them felt so real again and it made her heart flutter and threaten to beat out of her chest.

A brief moment of silence took place instead of talking, but it was so comfortable that neither of them actually cared about the absence of words until the warning bell rung.

"You're going to be late," Hikaru finally broke the silence again. "might want to hurry up a little bit." Melanie nodded her head and started walking backwards towards the second year hallway.

"It's funny how you were worried about me once and now you can't stop. I'm not going to be late to class." She giggled, reaching the corner where she had to turn and stopping momentarily, giving her underclassman a wave and then disappearing behind it.

* * *

The first thing Kaoru noticed when he walked into the host club that afternoon was the change in atmosphere. For who knows how long, every time he walked in he felt like he had just entered a battlefield, but now it actually felt kind of... cozy. In one corner, Haruhi and Tamaki were talking quietly amongst themselves, exchanging suspiciously heartfelt smiles and laughing. Scattered in another part of the room were Mori, Hunny, and Kyoya taking account of the candy supply that was left and making sure that a new shipment was due to come in soon. When Kaoru looked over by the piano, he was actually kind of stunned to see that his brother, who hadn't met up with him after the last bell as he usually would have, was sitting on the bench with Melanie. The way he was smirking so confidently and the completely nonchalant moment where he reached out and gently touched one of her curls while she giggled and blushed gave Kaoru an idea of what was going on, and he didn't know what to think about it.

Are they... _flirting?_

He totally saw this coming, but he couldn't help but still feel at least a little surprised. In fact, when he _really_ thought about it, they had so many ups and downs recently that he hadn't even kept track of the moments were the two of them may have started to-

 _Oh wait._

With his dumb luck, the both of them probably didn't even recognize what they were doing. They probably didn't even realize that they were sitting there all over each other like two love sick school kids who were so lost in their own world that nothing would snap them out of it.

But then again, judging by the way the two were even _staring_ at each other, it was entirely possible.

* * *

A:N: So this is the first time I've been on for over a month now and the first thing I see when I get on was this LONG review left by Lola and honestly I got very emotional over it. I've gone through a very long journey with fanfiction, falling in and out of love with it many times and having to deal with the criticism that I received as a very young writer with my first story (aka the original Why Me). Yea, it didn't make much sense, the writing was pretty shitty, and the story wasn't very realistic, but it was _my_ story and I had put a lot of work into it. When I decided to reboot it two years ago, my only goal was to make it better and make it something that present me could be proud of, and seeing the many favorites and follows and reviews that I have received over only sixteen chapters is all I need to prove to myself that I did just that. It's been the best feeling ever seeing all the reviews, but especially Lola's review calling this story one of their absolute favorites and amazing and all the other wonderful things I've had the honor to read, it means more than I can actually put into an author's note. It's things like these that make me glad that I didn't give up on the original story way back in 2013 like some people told me to, otherwise I wouldn't have put out something that I have enjoyed writing and so many have enjoyed reading. So once again, thank you for all the support, all of the reviews and favorites and follows, I'm very thankful to have them and I hope all of y'all liked this chapter. I'll see ya guys later!

(Edit: If anyone would be interested in giving me advice on a future chapter, it would be much appreciated! Some juicy stuff is happening but I want a second opinion before I upload it. You will be given credit of course :)


	18. Chapter 18

Why Me?

Chapter Eighteen

"So men, get fitted for new suits because the ball will be next Friday." Tamaki announced as he adjourned the host club meeting. Most of the members immediately went to their separate corners of the room, leaving Tamaki still standing there, drinking some tea. When he saw something waving from the corner of his eye, he turned and saw Melanie's hand sticking up from where she was still sitting on the floor. When he pointed to her as a way to tell her that she was free to speak, she cleared her throat and then started talking quietly.

"Um, Tamaki?"

"Yes dear?"

"Is it possible that I could skip the ball?" Melanie asked, causing Tamaki to almost spit out his tea. It was quite an unusual, not to mention bold request to make.

"Why would you want to do that?" Hikaru cut in before Tamaki could even get a word out. He was more interested in why she was going to leave him there to suffer by himself than even his boss was. Melanie awkwardly stammered while she came up with the best way to express her distaste for wanting to go to formal events anymore, but the way that both of the men were staring at her made her mind go blank.

"If it's taking you that long to explain, it obviously can't be that important," Tamaki interrupted her thinking, shaking his head and tsking. "If you don't show up, we're going to dock your pay by two-thirds."

For a moment, Melanie thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest at the sound of her pay being cut by that much. It was enough to pay for the rent and a few other nice things here and there, but cutting it by two thirds wouldn't leave her with very much left to work with.

So she continued to look for an excuse.

"B-But I don't have a ball gown!"

"That's the worst excuse I've ever heard, don't you know that we own one of the biggest businesses in fashion?" Hikaru scoffed loudly at her statement, almost offended that she would even try to legitimately say that. Of course she didn't reply, and he knew that it was only a matter of moments before she would sigh heavily and give up. "Just drop by today and we'll tailor one for you."

"I..." Even though she had started the sentence, it was just a silent trail that followed. There was absolutely no way out of this. "I would love too."

Melanie's stomach clenched at the violent eruption of butterflies as Hikaru smiled so wildly and then raced off to find Kaoru and tell him the news. When she turned back around to Tamaki, he had one of his eyebrows raised, but stayed silent as he turned back around and walked towards Kyoya, leaving her to walk towards the piano.

* * *

"So what color do you think we should go for, Kaoru?"

"I was thinking maybe a light pink?"

"C'mon, half the girls there are going to be wearing some shade of pink," Hikaru started as he pushed his way through one of the family's humongous stores, looking for a vacant alteration nook that they could use. Once he found one, the twins and their victim piled inside, Melanie sitting in a chair right next to the make up counter and dress rack, and the brothers pacing along the dark red carpet as they contemplated.

"What about the floral one? You know, the one that caused that model to trip three years ago?" Kaoru briefly brought up, but Hikaru quickly shut it down.

"The skirt is too full, she still has to play and probably doesn't want to have to deal with having to tuck it underneath the piano bench." He explained, lifting himself onto the make up counter and sitting there while Kaoru continued pacing.

"What about that _really_ nice burgandy one? Full sleeved, sweetheart neckline?" He had personally loved that dress, but one look at the way Hikaru was shaking his head gave him his answer already.

"Too form fitting. No guy needs to look at her body like that until she's married." Kaoru and Melanie both raised an eyebrow at that, but before the latter could speak up in protest, the duo had already moved on.

Soon enough, the only sound to encompass the room was the thumping of shoes against the floor, but then Kaoru's head popped up and he took his brother by the shoulders, shaking him with such vigor that Melanie thought that he might have just come up with the idea of the century.

"What about your dress?" Kaoru suddenly broke the silence.

Hikaru blinked at him three times, not really following what his brother was trying to tell him but soon enough, he remembered _exactly_ what dress he was talking about.

"No way, that shows _way_ too much leg-"

"Oh shut up, it's perfect and you know it." He argued, already starting to walk towards the door that led to the back room where many of the modeling dresses were held, including the one that his brother had designed a few months back, but was stubbornly keeping to himself until he found someone he deemed worthy of wearing it. If Melanie wasn't that person, then Kaoru really didn't know who his stupid twin was waiting for.

Hikaru tried to act like he wasn't entirely convinced, but his face was so lit up it was hard to deny that he was excited that the moment that he had been waiting for had finally come. Melanie started to speak up, trying to get caught up on what the two were talking about, but the twins all but ignored her as they walked out of the room, and returned twenty minutes later with a gray bag over a coat hanger.

"Now, Mel, I need you to be really careful with this-" Hikaru started, his voice deadly serious while he held the bag at an arms length away from her. She raised an eyebrow at the way he was addressing her as if she was a child, but decided to stay quiet. "I've been working on this design for _months_ and I'm not letting just _anybody_ wear it."

"Aw, you trust me enough not to ruin it? That's sweet of you." Melanie giggled. Hikaru's eyebrows furrowed slightly in annoyance, but Kaoru looked so entertained by the teasing that he was finding it hard not to smile at least a little bit.

"I'm not saying I trust you not to ruin it, but I do trust you enough to treat it well and bring it back in one piece." He explained, handing it off to her while she continued grinning from ear to ear. "Try it on, see how it looks."

When she stood up from her chair, the three of them stood there for a moment, an awkward silence encompassed the room while Melanie waited for the two to leave, a memo that they apparently weren't receiving.

"Can I get changed?"

"Of course."

"I mean by myself."

" _Oh."_ The twins simultaneously realized, slipping through the door and hearing it lock behind them while they waited for her to finish changing. The moment they heard the clicking of the door opening again, the both of them charged in at the same time.

When their eyes set upon the girl in front of them, they quickly realized that it was indeed perfect for her.

"I... I love it so much." Melanie took handfuls of the silky material and twirled in front of a mirror, watching as the skirt of the dress flew up and fell down gracefully again. She loved the little ribbon of pure white lace that wrapped around her waist line and couldn't help twirling again in order to see the intricate design it made on her back.

"It looks _amazing_ on you." Hikaru admitted, his voice was low, as if he was almost embarrassed to say it aloud, but Melanie heard him clear enough as she faced him and smiled so wide that the muscles in her cheeks started to hurt.

"You really think so?" She asked, staring down her body and admiring the way that the skirt flowed so nicely. Hikaru didn't reply, but instead felt the pressure of Kaoru's elbow in his side. When he glanced at his face however, he had the most annoying look that suggested that he was going to brutally tease him later. Not that Melanie seemed to notice though.

"I'm so happy that this dress is blue! That's my-"

"Favorite color. I know."

Mel's cheeks blushed lightly at the statement, and in an effort to hide it she went back to being in awe. Of course he knew what her favorite color was, as if he would forget a detail like that. Not that he would ever admit it, but he had taken that into consideration when he began making it.

"So, I'm guessing that you're happy with this selection?" Kaoru teased lightly. She shook her head vigorously as he started to get a closer look at her and immediately noticing that the lace had torn slightly. It was an easy fix, and definitely one that he could do that very moment if he had a sowing kit. "Hikaru, can you go to the seventh floor and get me some thin needles and thread?"

"Why don't you go yourself?" Hikaru scoffed, but moved towards the doorway anyway.

"Because you're closest to the door." He replied, pulling up a chair already and then sitting while he waited for Hikaru to leave. After another few rude mumbles, he shut the door behind him and entered the bustling lobby.

While Melanie and Kaoru sat there by themselves, neither of them spoke, but the latter couldn't help but notice the way that she was still smiling and even humming happily to herself.

"You know, I am surprised Hikaru actually went along with my suggestion of letting you wear this dress. For the past few months now our mom has been trying to make him display it but he said that he hasn't found the perfect person to model it yet and he wanted to wait until that time came." Kaoru briefly stopped himself as he waited for her to say something, but when she didn't he continued. "It's a beautiful dress though, and I'm glad that he finally found the perfect girl to wear it."

Melanie thought that she could hear her heart pumping in her chest. That sort of compliment came across as so heartfelt and meaningful that she couldn't help but let it get to her head. He thought _she_ was worthy of such a heaven-sent dress? The gorgeous material that she felt blessed to even have touching her skin? Every once in a while, Hikaru managed to make her heart flutter and give the butterflies in her stomach a run for their money, but recently that feeling had been coming more and more often and sometimes it couldn't even be described.

"Do you care if I ask you something kind of personal?"

As she snapped out of her day dream, she looked into the face of her ginger haired friend, nodding her head at his question.

"Do you like Hikaru?"

 _What type of a question is that?_

"Of course I do. Why would you even ask?" She raised an eyebrow.

"No, not in a friend way. I mean in a romantic way." Kaoru rephrased. He was surprised to see that other than the general widening of her eyes, she didn't actually seem so surprised at the question. It kind of seemed like she had already thought of the answer to it herself.

"I... I think I do. I really do care about him and when we're together I have butterflies in my stomach and I am so happy in a way that I can't explain, but-" She stopped for a moment, swallowing and taking a deep breath before continuing. "It's hard for me to accept it because if I ever have to deal with the realization that he doesn't like me back I would be heartbroken." There wasn't a doubt in Kaoru's mind that she was being honest. Whenever conversation turned serious, she had a habit to lower her voice and speak as clearly as she could, and that's exactly what she just did.

"I thought that would be the case. Hikaru won't even talk to me about it but if it's any consolation, anybody with eyes can see that he really cares for you too." He explained, leaning back in his chair and continuing to study her face for any signs of a reaction. She was biting her lip, silenced by his sudden confession, but after a few moments passed with no conversation between them, she finally came up with the words to say that truly conveyed what she felt.

"The only sentence I have come up with that properly shows what I feel towards him, no matter what type of relationship we have, is that if I were to move away today, I don't think a day would pass where I wouldn't think about him." She admitted, but before Kaoru could reply, the door opened once again and Hikaru piled himself inside, sowing kit in hand. Melanie felt her heart start racing again, just staring at him almost made her feel weak, almost like her legs were going to give out from under her, and while she wanted to hate it, she actually kind of loved it.

"I managed to grab the last one out of the hands of that French guy who keeps trying to hit on mom. He started speaking in French but luckily I had no idea what he was saying so I'm just going to guess that he was okay with me taking it." Hikaru shrugged his shoulders as he threw the box towards Kaoru, who opened it up and begun poking the thread through the hole at the top of the needle.

"So why didn't you want to go to the ball in the first place, Mel?" Hikaru asked, leaning against the make up counter again and watching as Kaoru started stitching the intricate flower pattern back together. Her face scrunched up in annoyance at the thought, but it didn't stop her from answering.

"I don't want to continue to be judged by all these upper class people." She admitted, only to raise an eyebrow at Hikaru's loud groan.

"Don't you remember what I told you back at the beach house? If you don't mess with them, they won't mess with you. There is no reason to skip out on the fun just because you are worried about a few assholes." He replied, completely unimpressed with her excuse, but not done yet with his mini-rant. "If someone comes up to you and tries to start something, I will personally deal with them, okay?"

Melanie couldn't help but at least crack a slight smile at the threat, accepting his proposal.

"Fine, but if you don't throw a punch when I need you to, then we're going to have a problem." She teased lightly, basking in the sound of his laughter. Hikaru raised up one of his hands, his fingers crossed in that sort of childish way that only he could pull off.

"So how do you think I should do my make up?" Melanie asked, not garnering any sort of answer until Hikaru walked over to the counter next to her and opened one of the drawers, pulling out a multiple eyeshadow palettes and a couple of brushes. He took his time walking up to her, a smirk slowly crossing his face before stopping just in front of her and raising one of the palettes up so she could see the colored pigment.

"Gold. With the brightness of your eyes and the color of the dress, there is no way you can go wrong with gold eyeshadow and winged eyeliner." He answered, pushing the cosmetics into her hand.

"And a nude lip. You can't have dramatic eye makeup _and_ lipstick unless you purposefully _want_ to look like a complete clown." Kaoru added on as he finished up his stitching and cut the string. After taking a step back and admiring his handy work, he was more than satisfied with it.

"You know that I'm horrible at winged eyeliner." Melanie started, but the moment Hikaru opened the drawer once again and pulled out a tube of black liquid eyeliner, she knew that any complaining was futile.

"I promise that it's not that hard," He unscrewed the tube and pulled out the small brush, thickly coated with the liquid. "Let me show you the basics that way you can't possibly mess up."

Before she could even react, Hikaru had his hand on the base of her chin, lifting it up so she was forced to look him in the face. His eyes were so warm, comforting yet serious, she started wondering if it was cliché to think that she was getting lost in them.

 _Oh God, I can't stop my heart from beating so loudly. I can barely even hear my own thoughts._

Hikaru in the meanwhile, didn't actually have it any better, but did manage to hide as he tried his best to stay concentrated. He worked slowly, chatting quietly along the way in an effort to calmly explain what he was doing and make it seem as easy as possible, but being close enough to her that he could feel the heat of her skin was nerve wrecking after their last encounter, not that he honestly had a problem with it.

With one last flick of the hand, he leaned back slightly to admire his near perfect wing, and felt as proud of himself as ever.

"There, now you can try to copy what I did with your other eye." He suggested, but Melanie still seemed slightly skeptical of her abilities. Nevertheless, she sat down into the chair and pulled up the cosmetic mirror, trying her best to copy his steps, but knowing that he was staring at her was kind of unsettling.

"Do you always shake this much when you do your makeup? No wonder you've been having trouble getting a straight line." Hikaru commented as he watched her hand unsteadily try to draw a line. He was having trouble containing his laughter while she struggled.

"I told you that I was horrible at drawing." She mumbled, mostly to herself but she made sure it was loud enough for him to hear it too.

Kaoru in the meanwhile was leaning against the wall, taking in all the playful bickering and chatting between the two and starting to come to his own conclusion.

There was no denying that there was something there.

* * *

A:N: Hey guys! I'm gonna keep it short and simple this time: my main news is that I really really _really_ need someone who is willing to read the next few chapters for me and give me their input on it. I have them written out but I just wanna make sure they flow well and live up to expectations because they are pretty crucial. If you're interested, please message me! I will give you credit when I upload each of the chapters.

Anyway, with that said, the next few chapters have been some of my favorites to write. (They have made my little heart melt to be honest.) I'm living for this whole "Hikaru and Melanie slowly getting closer and closer to getting together" thing. Not to be a tease but soon guys, it'll happen _really_ soon :)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and drop a review if you have the time! I really do appreciate them and honestly read them multiple times.


	19. Chapter 19

Why Me?

Chapter Nineteen

As if the host club couldn't manage to get anymore extravagant, they once again exceeded Melanie's expectations. They had rented the largest hall she had ever seen in her entire _life_ , the walls were all lined with Tuscan colored bricks and fresh, green vines flowed from pillar to pillar to give the room almost a romantic, private garden vibe. The floor was still polished until you could see your reflection in the shine, and even though she had been hit numerous times by dancing couples, she couldn't help but understand how lost they found themselves in the soft sounds of the miniature orchestra that was playing right next to her grand piano. Naturally, she gravitated over to the instrument since that was a safe place and she was supposed to be playing it anyway. Of course she had gone with the twin's makeup suggestion, and as she was leaving the house that night, her mom threatened to make her cry with all her compliments on how beautiful she looked. So far, she felt like she was in a real life fairy tale, not that she was in any way upset by that notion.

At the top of the grand staircase was the host club, all of them staring down at party goers and how they were all mingling with each other, but quickly Tamaki called to order a brief meeting to discuss the nights events.

Hikaru had at first been paying attention, but eventually he fell back into his usual state of boredom and wished that he could be anywhere else in the room other than there.

Perhaps next to Melanie.

He hadn't seen her yet that night, and it kind of made him anxious thinking that she may have decided to skip out on the ball despite Tamaki's threat, but he knew that she didn't have it in her to take a pay cut if she wasn't even willing to accept money from any of them.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar tune of Chopin fill the air, and he knew that she had arrived.

He looked down from the stair case again and scanned the room to try to find the piano that Melanie must have been playing music at, and sure enough, he found it right to the side of the orchestra. Looking at her though, almost made his heart stop.

She had taken his suggestion and gone with the gold eye makeup, even managing to wing her eyeliner just fine, and it looked amazing. Her hair had been braided along the side of her head, weaving its way into the rest of her locks that rested flawlessly off the ends of her shoulders, and she wore absolutely no jewelry, a good call since she already stood out without it.

How was he even supposed to accurately describe her in his head? Beautiful was an understatement, and stunning didn't come close to the right word he was looking for. Lovely was way too formal and pretty was too generic, but what in the world was he supposed to say to her when they talked later?

 _Oh God, why can't I think straight?_

"... Hikaru? Are you even paying attention?"

"No, not really." He replied, continuing to stare at her while feeling his cheeks begin to tint lightly.

Kyoya took the brief lapse in conversation to look over the railing to see if Melanie had arrived. Of course, not to his surprise, she had. No wonder he was so easily distracted.

Tamaki, who would normally be upset, didn't address Hikaru's wandering mind any further. Just like Kyoya, he had a wild guess about what had occupied his attention so easily.

"Anyway, men, make this a very special night for our guests!" Tamaki commanded, over dramatically flipping his hair out of his face while he watched the group disband.

While Hikaru walked down the staircase, sticking his hands in his pocket, he felt an arm sling around his shoulder, and the awful sounding teasing of his brother begin.

"So are you going over to talk to her?" He asked, timing his steps to match his twin's.

"Of course I am."

"Planning on flirting a little bit?"

"Stop making me more nervous."

"I'm surprised, you're really becoming bold, you know that?"

Hikaru's nose scrunched up.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked. Kaoru had absolutely no shame evident on his face while he chuckled lowly to himself.

"It means exactly what I said it means. I think you _know_ that Melanie likes you and so now you're becoming super confident." Kaoru teased, smirking cheekily.

To say that Hikaru was blushing after that line was an understatement.

"S-She does?" Hikaru stuttered, all of a sudden much more anxious than he was before.

"Anyone with eyes can see that," Kaoru continued, ceasing to walk once he saw Haruhi and Hunny over by the chocolate fountain. "you would have to say something _really_ dumb to ruin that."

Hikaru gulped. Hard. A part of him already knew that he was more than capable of that. Before he could say anything though, Kaoru patted him reassuringly on the back, walking off towards his other friends.

All that was left to do was move. Put one foot in front of the other.

"Hikaru! Come dance with me!" A voice exclaimed over the music, its owner wrapping her hand around Hikaru's jacket and forcing him to look at her. It was one of his regulars, although one that never seemed to be able to hold a conversation that had a talking point past that of reveling over her different array of hair care products. Her father had been working on an arranged marriage for the two of them for quite a while now, and something told him that this was just another part of their grand scheme.

"I'm actually kind of busy right now-" He started to excuse himself, only to cut himself off. From across the room, he had made eye contact with Melanie, who was swaying from side to side, allowing her body to dance to the rhythm of the music. She nodded her head at him, as if she was giving him permission to spend another few minutes bound away from her.

"I don't see you with any other girls right now," The girl said, starting to raise an eyebrow at Hikaru, who seemed to be transfixed on something off in the distance. After a few loud snaps in his face, he paid her attention again, giving her a halfhearted apology before he took her hand and they joined the swirling dresses of couples on the floor.

A couple of minutes and a few (non) sincere apologies later, Hikaru finally managed to dance all the way to the other end of the ballroom, where he cut his latest dance short before making a bee line for the outer edges of the crowd. He was much more than just exhausted, those girls were quite vicious and he practically had to fight to find an exit. By the time he reached the stage where the band was playing, he pulled himself up, sitting on its edge and leaning back onto his hands.

"You look like you've already had quite the night, huh?"

"Tell me about it," He muttered loudly enough for Melanie to hear as she sat down next to him, crossing her legs before she turned her head to look at the side of his face. His jawline was sharply defined, a feature she hadn't ever really noticed until that moment, but one that she greatly enjoyed. "I'm guessing you're tired too since it has only been about an hour but you're already slacking off on your duties."

"This is coming from the guy who couldn't even handle dancing for that long." She quipped, laughing at Hikaru's face as it scrunched up.

"In my defense, those girls can't go more than two minutes without stepping on my feet so excuse me if it became old after a while." He admitted sarcastically, earning the slightest of giggles from his friend. They sat there in silence for a few moments, the type of comfortable ceasing of talking that is only shared between close friends while the two of them looked off into the crowd. Melanie watched the twirling of the dresses and listened to the sound of the quartet pick up its pace considerably, the striking violinist taking it away with a heart stopping solo that garnered a lot of clapping. Mostly though, she looked at the faces of all of her classmates who she couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for, many of them stuck in arranged marriages they didn't like, some passed over for family businesses that they thought was right in their reach, but all of them seemed relaxed at that moment, just having fun and letting loose.

 _Did Hikaru have these expectations placed on him too?_

"Um, Mel, I think we should probably run." Hikaru suddenly said, pushing himself off of the ledge.

"What? _Why-_ " She asked, snapping out of her haze and also hopping off of the ledge. Before Hikaru even got the chance to reply though, she saw the danger that was heading towards them. Kyoya walking right towards them while they were slacking off from their jobs, a confrontation that had a zero percent rate of survival. _"Oh shit."_

"Oh shit is correct." He replied as he grabbed Melanie's hand, lacing his fingers through hers as he started to pull her through the crowd. The duo continued their trek by running into many young ladies that were eager for a slice of Hikaru's attention, a dangerous obstacle that he narrowly avoided only by promising them that he would get back to them as quickly as he could (a lie he had no intention of keeping).

As Melanie continued to momentarily turn around so she can check where Kyoya was in relation to them, she saw him standing at where the two used to be, looking rather unhappy about how they had managed to slip from under their nose.

"Mel-chan! Hika-chan!"

They stopped dead in their tracks, standing in front of them was none other than Hunny himself, with Mori at his side as per usual, looking at them with a bit of concern.

"Kyoya is looking for you! I'm not sure what you two did but he didn't seem very happy about it." Hunny started, looking around carefully to see if he could see head of raven colored hair anywhere in sight. When he decided the coast was clear, he motioned for Melanie and Hikaru to follow him as he sneaked over to a smaller pair of french doors and opened them. The duo looked slightly unsure of what to think of Hunny's mischievous side, but silently agreed that it was definitely worth having another few moments of silence to themselves before Kyoya got to them.

The first thing to hit them as the two stepped onto the stone trimmed balcony was the wave of cool air relieving them from the hot stuffiness that inflated the building. The summer was finally coming to an end and finally the leaves were starting to turn beautiful shade of auburn and crimson before falling off their branches and on to the solid ground. You could still faintly hear the music since Hunny kept the door open just a crack before disappearing back inside, but the sounds of the crickets faintly humming in the background mixed with the few chimes that were blowing in the wind was more than enough audibility to keep the moment from ever getting awkward.

"Tamaki really outdid himself again." Melanie finally broke the silence, standing on the edge of the balcony where the fence was and leaning on the barrier as she stared at the barely visible sunset. Hikaru scoffed at the statement.

"You would have been blown away by his initial plans, he wanted a full thirty piece orchestra and to have doves fly over the school at the conclusion of the night, but Kyoya managed to talk him out of it." Hikaru added enunciation to Kyoya's name in order to let her know that it wasn't actually him that ruined her fun this time.

"Aw, that sounds like it would have been fun. All of this singing, dancing, and laughing and then to top it all off there are just a hundred white doves flying over everyone! You can't tell me that wouldn't have been cute, Hikaru!" She replied excitedly, pulling on his jacket lightly as if by doing so it would make him come around to her way of thinking

"There you go being a hopeless romantic again. Are you sure that you and Tamaki aren't actually related?" He joked, poking her in the side playfully as she smiled sheepishly and looked up at him, which may have been her first big mistake.

Hikaru was smiling brightly at her, but the way he was made her heart threaten to jump out of her chest and caused her throat to feel like it was closing. One corner of his mouth was pulled up higher than the other and his head was tilted _ever so slightly_ to the right; the soft light caught his eyes just perfectly so that it seemed like they were dimly illuminated from within, a rusted gold colored light that was beaming down at her. He started saying something, but she almost couldn't seem to understand him as she was just focused on the way his lips seemed to move.

 _I think I'm falling in love with him._

"... Melanie? Hey it's almost getting dark out here so do you want to try and go back?" She finally snapped out of it and deciphered what her partner was saying in front of her.

She simply shook her head.

"I would like to go inside and dance, but I'd honestly love to stay out here even more." She admitted, feeling her face heat up considerably after what she'd just gone through. Suddenly she felt Hikaru's hands wrap around hers and started pulling them to the center of the balcony, where he pulled her closer to his chest and put one of his hands on her waist line.

"Then lets dance out here then." He whispered in such a calm, suggestive tone Melanie could have sworn he was almost trying to be seductive.

Nevertheless, she definitely did not refuse.

Their dancing was slow and intimate, imitating the way that Melanie was hanging onto him closer than he would have let other girls. Their dance together wasn't just relaxing, it was playful and sprinkled with passion with the way that Hikaru would twirl her and then pull her right back into his chest, almost as if it was where she was supposed to be all along.

"Hikaru, how am I supposed to get back to doing my job when I am so much happier dancing out here with you?" Melanie finally whispered, breaking their silence after a few minutes of quiet, yet comfortable dancing. The words that left her mouth weren't even a surprise anymore; flirtation was second nature, it was honest and raw in a way that she felt like she had never been before.

"Then don't leave, we can stay out here dancing as long as you want." He tightened his grip on her waist just enough for her to notice, just enough for her to feel even more wanted.

"Even if that means all night?"

"Even if that means all night." He repeated her sentiment, emphasizing the importance of the word 'all' as he stared down at Mel's slim face, her lips in a slight pout and his nose catching the slightest of whiffs of her delicate perfume. "I will gladly do anything that makes you happy."

Melanie's brain ceased to function as a result of the gentle smile on her partner's face. This wasn't Hikaru messing with her, this was him at his most honest and vulnerable, serious instead of sarcastic, yet loving and gentle.

She laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes slowly and just swaying easily from side to side with him on the balcony. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, just letting the faint sound of the string quartet float through the warm summer air while they danced steadily. When the song ended, they continued to move in circles, paying just enough attention to their surroundings to ensure that they didn't run into a wall.

"Melanie."

Melanie pulled back slightly, looking up at Hikaru's eyes.

"Hmm?"

"I... I know I can be a handful sometimes. As hard as it is for me to admit, I'm selfish and stubborn and childish, but..." Hikaru's face started to tint slightly red, easily embarrassed by his confession. "thank you for putting up with me."

The atmosphere was filled with silence. Melanie had an earnest look to her face, but couldn't help giggling a little at how serious Hikaru looked at that moment.

"Oh Hikaru, I'm not putting up with you. I talk to you and spend time with you because I _enjoy_ it, not because I feel compelled to feel sorry for you." She replied, sliding her arms from around his neck and around his waist, pulling him into a tight hug. His white button up was incredibly soft against her cheek, and his arms were warm and sturdy as they wrapped around her.

"Yea but sometimes we fight-"

"And so what? We disagree on a few things but that doesn't stop me from laughing at your jokes or roll my eyes at your antics. I _love_ it when you text me in the middle of the night to tell me about your newest design idea. I _love_ hearing about how much you love photography and old cameras that your grandfather used to have. I _love_ how much you care about your interests and your friends and I can't help laughing when you tease me about the little things I do that you just think are so hilarious. I know it sounds incredibly cheesy so I'll skip to my point but it's what makes you Hikaru Hitachiin, you know?" Melanie took her time explaining her feelings, stopping their dancing, reaching to her waistline and taking Hikaru's hands into her own. She ran a finger over the palm of his hand before lacing her fingers in with his. "Hikaru, I spend time with you because you mean more to me than anybody else in the world."

Hikaru stood silent for a moment. He had no idea what to expect as his heart started pounding so violently in his chest and he knew that she had finally managed to get his face to flush bright red. If ever he had wished that he had more self control, that he would just _think_ instead of just blurting out his true feelings every single time he had a conversation, it was safe to say that this was it. There was no doubt in his mind that the next words that left his mouth would be the most honest and impulsive words he had ever said.

" _I want to be with you."_

There they were. The words that he knew he had been keeping to himself for such a long time, now just floating through the air like petals on a breezy day.

This time it was Melanie's turn to remain speechless. Her body tensed up underneath his touch and her cheeks were painted a cute rosy pink. All she could do was stammer while her mind failed to grasp the seriousness of his statement.

 _Is this actually happening right now?_

"Guys! The kiss from the king contest is starting-" Hunny barged out onto the balcony but stopped when he witnessed the two standing right there in the middle of the floor, insanely close to each other and both of their faces frozen in time. Melanie seemed insanely shocked, but not as much as Hikaru, who stood there with his mouth wide open and his entire face the color of a ripened cherry.

"Did I... interrupt something?" Hunny asked, slowly starting to back away as he realized that the answer was without a doubt definitely yes. He heard his name being shouted and looked over at Tamaki standing on the stair case, giving him a hand wave as to say that he needed to hurry up. Hunny looked back over at the two, who had yet to move even a single muscle. "T-Tamaki really wants you to get up there, Hika-chan."

Hikaru gulped, stuck between his duties as a host but also between having to have a discussion about what just happened with Melanie.

"I think I'm a little busy right now-" He started, only to feel Melanie let go of his hands.

"No, you have a duty you need to get to. You don't want to keep Tamaki or Kyoya waiting." She cut in, taking a step back and smiling sheepishly. He couldn't tell if she actually wanted him to leave or not, but he knew that she had a point: one of his options definitely included facing Kyoya's wrath.

He started moving over towards Hunny, looking back over his shoulder to see Melanie just standing there, not following him in the slightest, still blushing brightly under the dimly lit evening sky.

* * *

A:N: I don't think anyone will truly understand how long I have been waiting to upload that! Every time I read this chapter (and the next chapter!) I feel content with the story I have written so far, especially since it seems like everyone else is enjoying it too.

I'd like to give a special thanks to NumberZero41 for looking over this chapter for me! Their help is much appreciated.

Anyway, let me know what you think in the reviews! I'm always looking forward to them!


	20. Chapter 20

Why Me?

Chapter Twenty

About two hours later, Hikaru walked out into the lukewarm night. The wind was starting to pick up and hit Hikaru right in the nose, causing him to shudder slightly as he sat down on the bench and waited. He wasn't really sure what he was waiting for at that point, but now that all the guests had cleared out over half an hour ago, there wasn't much of a rush to do anything.

Which left him with his usual predicament: why did he have to open his big mouth?

He didn't say a single thing to Melanie for the rest of the evening, even after the kiss from the king contest had ended and there was another hour of light chatter and couples dancing. She had just sat at the piano, playing the slow, romantic songs that she had been instructed to play and it made him wonder if she was thinking of him like he had been thinking of her.

Nevertheless, she didn't approach him at all. It made sense, he always was blurting out the first thing to come to his mind. From his impulses to his rude thoughts, he should have known that he was in over his head, that all of the little signs that he thought meant that she may have liked him back was all just in his mind. The thought hurt, it hurt much more than he anticipated it would have in the scenarios he had played over and over again in his head. At that point in time, all he wanted to do was just go home and get into his bed, that way he could at least be comfortable while he stayed up all night being miserable over her.

"Hikaru."

He stopped dead in his tracks as he faintly heard her voice behind him. As he turned around, there she was, walking calmly towards him.

"Mel?"

She continued walking, this time fastening her pace as it was starting to become a bit of a cold autumn night, and she was ill dressed for it.

"Hikaru, I just want to say that-"

"You don't have to say anything, I'm sorry that I just blurted that out and put you on the spot like that. It was wrong of me and I just shouldn't-" He started, running one hand through his hair and pushing it back, only to once again be cut off by Melanie.

"Oh God Hikaru, will you just stop talking for _one_ moment? You didn't even let me finish." Melanie started, her tone wasn't meant to be mean, but just serious enough that he obeyed. Hikaru was deadly silent from that moment on while he allowed her to continue.

It took her a moment to get out her words, she continued to lightly flush pink while she stuttered over a variety of beginning phrases only to finally settle on one a few seconds later.

"I know that I have my flaws, I am stubborn and meek and I get incredibly nervous... but I promise you that in the past year since I've met you, I never for a second have thought that I've become a worse person because of you. You've helped me get out of my shell and stand up for myself and stop taking everything so seriously and I'm never going to be able to thank you enough for all that you have done for me..." There was a brief stop. Melanie took a deep breath and there was a gleam in her eyes that he could have sworn was a tear, but before he could say something she kept going.

"I know I said it earlier already but I am _so happy_ that I met you, whether my face showed it or not. I love our adventures together and our conversations and the way you always try to be charming no matter what mood I'm in and _God, I just want to be with you too._ "

The knot that formed in Hikaru's throat almost stopped him from breathing. Melanie tried her best to keep eye contact with him as she confessed her feelings, but the longer that Hikaru didn't reply the sooner she began to think that maybe he really hadn't meant to confess to her in the first place. Hikaru in the meanwhile was incredibly wide eyed, in his mind he kept trying to convince himself that this was a selfish delusion that he needed to be awakened from, but when Melanie started to look embarrassed, he realized that maybe this wasn't just a dream.

"Oh, I cut you off when you were trying to tell me that you had made a mistake, didn't I?" Melanie slowly let the words leave her tongue as she started to take a step back from Hikaru, who raised an eyebrow. "I'm so sorry! Just forget what I said and I'll just leave now-"

Hikaru just shook his head lightly, letting the slightest of grins cross his face as he took a few steps closer to Melanie, slowly closing the distance between them and reaching his hands up to her face. Her skin was warm under his touch, dimly lit by the lamp a few feet away from them. Her dimples were ever so slightly apparent.

"Don't leave."

He started gently rubbing his thumb over the apples of her cheeks, letting his eyes trace the soft curvature of her lips while she simply melted under his touch.

Melanie fluttered her lashes, almost as if she could not register that this moment between the two, this intimate display of affection that she never in a thousand years would have imagined, was actually happening. She knew that she was probably blushing, just like Hikaru always teased her about, but this time it felt more comfortable somehow, more natural.

"I'm not going anywhere."

The words had left a smile on his face that she couldn't help but return the favor to, and before she knew it, her eyes were closed and she was leaning in.

When Hikaru's lips met hers, they moved together slowly, passionately, their noses occasionally bumping into each other. It was filled with frustration, yet also with an underlying need for each other that neither of them had ever fully acknowledged up until that point. Hikaru didn't drop his hands from her face for a single moment, instead using them to bring her closer to him. Melanie wrapped her arms around his neck, running one of her hands through his bright orange hair as she continued to smile into the kiss.

Neither of them knew how long they just stayed there, but naturally, they eventually separated. Melanie was slow to open her eyes, so convinced that she was dreaming that she didn't want to accidentally wake up from it.

When she finally looked at him again, she could see some of her lip stick had come off on Hikaru's mouth. She reached her thumb up and gently tugged at his bottom lip until it disappeared, a very tension filled gesture that didn't go unnoticed by him.

"I think it's safe to say that I didn't make a mistake." His voice almost dripped with honey as he spoke, all of a sudden the success of the kiss bringing him back to his usual level of confidence.

"..."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm more than okay, I'm just _so_ happy right now." She admitted, sheepishly looking towards the ground. The confession felt very personal, as if by saying it aloud she was giving a part of herself to Hikaru that she had never given anyone before. Actually, that was _exactly_ it. Thankfully it paid off.

He slipped his hand underneath her chin, lifting her face up that way she was looking at him.

"You don't have to be shy, I'm glad to know that you are as happy as I am right now." He replied, reaching out and taking one of her hands in his own. Melanie could feel her heart pumping loudly in her chest, threatening to make an appearance any second.

"Really?"

"Why would I lie to you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the statement. Melanie shook her head vigorously.

"I don't think you are lying. It just feels almost surreal to hear you say that."

There was a loud banging that came from the building, causing the duo to look behind them and watch as Tamaki and Kyoya both walked out from the double doors. Tamaki spotted Hikaru and Melanie almost immediately and made a rush for them. Kyoya didn't waste his energy chasing him and continued at his normal stride.

"Guys! Wasn't the ball _great_ today? I really think this was one of our personal bests with all of the singing and dancing and music, it really was lively in there tonight!"

"I absolutely loved the string quartet. Very romantic." Melanie agreed, not being caught off guard by Tamaki's electric reaction. He set one of his arms around her shoulders and cast a glance towards Kyoya and Hikaru as if to say _'I told you so!'_

"I think next time we should even go for a full orchestra!" Tamaki proudly proclaimed, letting go of Melanie and mimicking the movements of a violin player, humming along to one of the songs that she remembered them playing while she and Hikaru danced on the balcony.

Suddenly Tamaki stopped dead in his tracks, all the blood washing from his face. Melanie snapped one of her fingers in front of his face, hoping to get a reaction out of him but to no avail.

"Tamaki? Is something wrong?" Melanie asked, only to have him look her dead in the eyes, squinting them slightly as if he knew one of her deepest darkest secrets.

"Why are you two... holding hands?"

 _Ooh. That's why he's like this._

The two of them let go almost immediately, each taking their turns at being embarrassed for having their moment ruined.

"You don't want to hear any of my excuses-" Hikaru started, only to be cut off by Tamaki getting in his face.

" _You're right I don't! Since when did-"_ Tamaki motioned between the two of them. _"_ _ **this**_ _happen?"_

 _This? That raises the question, what_ is _this exactly?_

"I really don't think that's any of your business, boss." Hikaru said nonchalantly. Tamaki's face turned bright red and he started stuttering over his words before unleashing his usual tirade against Hikaru, who in return just stuck his tongue out and made fun of him. Melanie just watched for a moment, slightly amused at Tamaki's antics yet annoyed that he didn't even consider her feelings in this, just assuming that Hikaru was forcing himself on her.

"Melanie? I believe your car is here."

She looked over, actually glad to see Kyoya had finished walking up and wasn't fazed at the argument in front of them.

"Thank you," She looked over at the street, seeing that her car was indeed parked there with the driver waiting for her to walk over to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Hikaru saw what she was staring at too, and took the opportunity to end his conversation with Tamaki.

"This was fun and all, but I'm going to walk Mel to her car," He said, starting to turn back to Melanie and smiling brightly.

" _Don't you dare think for one second that this argument is done, young man!"_

Hikaru didn't reply, only picking up Melanie's bag off of the ground for her and going in the direction of her ride. A few feet away, he could still hear Tamaki steaming behind him, but chose to just laugh at it.

"I'm sorry that Tamaki is ridiculing you for this." Melanie finally spoke up a few minutes later. Hikaru opened up the door for her and put her bag on the seat. He lingered at the entrance of the car, not wanting to leave just yet.

"I'm not surprised he is. You know how he is about you and Haruhi." Hikaru answered, closing the door.

"Yea, but I wish he would at least _ask_ me what I want before jumping to conclusions." Melanie stated, pouting slightly as she leaned against the car, crossing her arms.

Hikaru took the opportunity to lighten the obviously sullen mood.

"So what _do_ you want, _Melanie?_ " Hikaru asked. His tone was seductive, velvety and smooth. He was definitely pulling out the charm that he used during the host club, but being on the receiving end of it was a completely different experience than watching it from afar for Melanie. The sound of him rolling out her full name like that was heavenly as it graced her ears. To say that it felt intimate wouldn't even begin to describe it.

"W-what do I want?"

"Mmm hmm." He inched closer, brushing his hand up against her arm and leaning into her face slowly, just enough to get a reaction from her. Melanie held her breath, she knew Hikaru was messing with her but it was still too strong for her to resist.

"Well I..."

"Yea?" Hikaru got a little bit closer again, his liquid amber eyes were hypnotic. She could tell that they weren't focused on her eyes and it started to drive her wild that she couldn't even formulate her thoughts in her head.

" _Hikaru! She needs to go home!"_

Hikaru leaned back again, groaning at the sound of Tamaki's shrill voice.

"Fine, it seems like I won't be able to do _anything_ without him breathing down my neck," He mumbled under his breath, grabbing the handle of the door but not opening it yet.

"Hikaru?"

"Mel?"

"So, what happens now?" Melanie asked, before quickly clearing up, "I mean, in regards to... us?"

A moment passed by without an answer.

"I'm going to take you out." He finally said.

"Out where?"

"I can't tell you where, just know that it is going to be the best date you've ever been on."

" _Ooh._ Sounds mysterious. Can I get any hints?"

"I don't want to spoil it too much but just know that I really do think you'll love it." He replied before following his sentence up. "It will have to wait until after we get back from our host club trip next week, but I think we'll have a lot of fun on that trip too." He gave a suggestive wink at the end before opening up the car door for Melanie to finally get inside.

" _Hikaru!"_

"Relax, I'm just kidding!" He countered, giving her a light kiss on the lips, but pulling back just enough to be able to look her in the eyes. "Unless you change your mind, of course."

Melanie ignored him.

"So where is this host club trip going to anyway? Tamaki hasn't told me many of the details yet." She asked him, stepping into the car and sitting down in the seat but not closing the door.

"Mori's father owns a marina off the coast of Australia or something so I'm pretty sure we're going to be on a cruise for a week straight." Hikaru answered, only to frown when he saw Melanie look concerned. "Is something wrong with that?"

"I can't swim, remember?"

"So?"

"What if the boat tips over and we end up reenacting that scene from _Titanic?_ " Melanie questioned him, her eyebrows were deeply furrowed, showing serious concern over the topic, only to roll her eyes once Hikaru laughed at her.

"Are you _seriously_ worried about that?"

"Why aren't you?"

"Because it's certainly not every day that someone is barely holding on to their life thanks to a wooden door." He replied, wiping away the tears that started forming in his eyes and clutching his stomach. Melanie started pouting, still not very happy with his reaction and obviously starting to become slightly annoyed. "Okay, I promise that if something happens to the boat, where you and I are floating in the ocean and there is a single door that could hold only one of us, then I will gladly let you have it."

"Really?"

"I mean, _if_ that actually happens. Between you and me, I kind of doubt that it will." He chuckled, only to hear a car beep in the distance, which he could only assume was Kaoru waiting on him.

"I think your ride is starting to get impatient." Melanie giggled, looking through the front wind shield to see Kaoru waving his arms around in an effort for Hikaru to see him.

"Yea, I think so too." He admitted, pushing himself off of the cars frame and taking a step back. "I'll text you later then, okay?"

Melanie smiled, nodding her head in agreement before he wished her a goodnight, closed her door and walked off in the direction of his car.

* * *

Once Tamaki's car dropped her off, Melanie hastily went inside of her house, the time of night starting to catch up to her in the form of exhaustion.

"Hi honey, how was your ball?" Her mom asked from the living room. Melanie sat her bag down on the kitchen table before slowly making her way into the living room, sitting down as comfortably as she could in Hikaru's precious dress.

"Mom, it was amazing. You should have seen the way the place was decorated, almost like it was straight out of a movie." Melanie answered as she went into her phone's pictures to show her mom some of the photos she took that night. Right as she started scrolling through and picking out the blurry ones from the non blurry ones, a notification went off saying that Kyoya had texted her an image.

After she clicked on it, she almost felt her stomach do somersaults.

Kyoya had texted her a single picture of her and Hikaru dancing on the balcony, the sun setting in the distance and the couple oblivious to the fact that their close moment had been captured on camera.

"Awww, that's a cute picture-" Her mom started, looking over Melanie's shoulder and stopping abruptly once she noticed a very important detail that her daughter never seemed to mention to her.

" _Is that one of the Hitachiin boys?"_ She asked, taking the phone out of her hand and zooming in on Hikaru's face as if that would have made it any clearer.

"That's Hikaru Hitachiin." Melanie sheepishly admitted, she hated that she already knew what her mother was going to say next.

"Hmmm, I didn't realize that you were so... close to him?" She replied, handing the phone back to Melanie before sipping her tea.

" _Mom,_ why would it even matter?"

"Melly, you know that I always think about what's best for your future-" Her mom started, only to be cut off by her very uncomfortable looking daughter.

" _Please_ don't say it-"

"-and I'm not going to act like marrying a Hitachiin boy wouldn't be a great way to secure a happy life for you!" She finished anyway. It took her a moment to fully register that her mother did indeed suggest such a horrible thing. Even if that statement was a product of how she was raised, it made Melanie feel slightly sick to think of taking advantage of Hikaru like that.

"I don't want to be with Hikaru for his money!"

"Of course you don't, but all I'm saying is that in a family like his, especially if you have a few kids with him, then you'll never have to worry about ever getting kicked out of your own home for mistakes you didn't make." She continued, stirring some more honey into her tea. She had seemingly struck a nerve as Melanie's face turned a deep shade of red and her eyebrows furrowed deeply.

The words silently rung through the air, what do you even say to something like that?

"I'm tired of feeling punished for you and dad's relationship. One good thing is happening to me right now and I'm _begging_ you not to ruin it for me." Melanie said as she got up from the table, not even wishing her mother a goodnight as she moved down the hallway and shut the door loudly behind her.

* * *

Hikaru in the meanwhile, had just gotten out of the shower when his brother burst into his room, closing the door shut behind him and jumping on his twin.

"Kaoru! What are you doing?" Hikaru yelled, trying his best to pry him off of his body.

"Hikaru! You will _not_ believe what I just overheard mom and dad talking about!" He fiercely whispered, pushing his brother on the bed and pulling up a chair so that the both of them were staring right at each other.

"What? Were they talking about moving houses again?" Hikaru asked, taking his towel and continuing to dry his hair with it. Kaoru vigorously shook his head.

"Not even close! They were talking about Mel!"

"Okay? You know how much mom loves her, why is this supposed to be so surprising?" Hikaru replied, still not understanding the point about it. Kaoru tsked loudly and smirked.

"They were talking about an arranged marriage."

Hikaru nearly spit out his drink.

" _What?"_

"I haven't even gotten to the craziest part yet."

" _What!"_

"The marriage wasn't with you. Apparently the Nakamoto's, the Watashi's, and... The _Minami's_ are trying to get to her first. Mom and dad are trying to decide whether to do something or not."

Hikaru's eyes almost glossed over at the statement and you could visibly see all the color drain from his face. On a day like today, a _perfect_ day like today, something like this just _had_ to come up.

"I see you're concerned." Kaoru continued. Hikaru didn't say anything in response. "but I want you to know that I suggested to them that they should go for it."

That was enough to snap Hikaru out of his trance.

"It took me months to get together with this girl and now I don't know what I'm more terrified of. Taking it too fast or having someone end it prematurely for me." His face started to gain the slightest bit of a pink tint in his cheeks, but he still felt so flustered and overwhelmed that he was surprised he even got this much out of his mouth.

Kaoru stared at his poor twin. The guy looked borderline terrified just sitting on his bed, barely breaking a sweat. It was his duty to help him out.

"Look Hikaru, don't worry about it. You already know that Melanie won't just let this happen without a fight and you won't either. I just figured I should let you know in case Kai Minami sneaks his way back into the host club again." Kaoru reassured him. He reached one of his hands out and tousled his brother's already disheveled hair, much to his annoyance. "And even if Melanie is forced into one of those marriages, don't you think she would do everything she could to be with you?"

The thought was reassuring, as was his phone vibrating and seeing that she had sent him a text.

 _From: Melanie Suzuki_

 _Message: I had a great time tonight. Can't wait until our date!_

At the end of the message was a tiny orange heart, an homage to his hair and also their new relationship. He didn't even try to hide the way his mouth pulled up into a smile because Kaoru was right, if it really came down to it, he had no doubt in his mind that she would choose him.

"You're so giddy, that's what happens when you get lovestruck I guess." Kaoru said, only to have a close meeting with one of Hikaru's pillows.

" _Get out!_ " Hikaru raised his voice, taking another pillow from his artillery and threatening to hit him again. Kaoru got up, not without putting his own mischievous smile on his face but gradually slipped out of the room, closing Hikaru's door behind him.

Finally he leaned back into his bed, sinking in to the soft sheets and holding his phone over his face. The brightly lit screen illuminated with Melanie's message that he couldn't resist reading over and over again. How do you reply to something like this? Something flirtatious? A joke?

Hikaru settled on something heartfelt as that seemed to be the theme of the day.

 _To: Melanie Suzuki_

 _Message: Me too. I already know that you're gonna love it and I'm just glad we get to spend time together._

He hesitated for a moment before wondering if that was too out of character for him. Is boyfriend Hikaru different from friend Hikaru? Obviously he has to be but would this just weird her out?

He finally decided that the answer was no, and then commenced pressing the button.

 _I kind of like this boyfriend thing,_ he thought, tapping on the message bar and typing again.

 _To: Melanie Suzuki_

 _Message: You looked amazing tonight. I was too nervous to tell you earlier but I designed the dress for you a few months ago and it looked just as beautiful on you as I thought it would._

This time he didn't hesitate to press send.

He put his phone down on his bedside table and laid completely flat on his back, sinking into his sheets. He couldn't see much other than what was being washed by the light of the moon but he liked the way that it made everything seem still.

"She really likes me." He whispered. Just hearing the phrase out loud was crazy enough, but to know that it was actually true? His heart beat loud in his chest just thinking about it.

Melanie liked him. She _kissed_ him. The girl who was a piano prodigy, the one who can't swim or draw and gets flustered easily actually stood there and told him that she was happy that she met him.

 _Shit._

Hikaru's mouth hurt from smiling so hard.

A bright light suddenly turned on, and when he flipped on his side, he saw that Melanie had texted him back.

 _From: Melanie Suzuki_

 _Message: It's the most beautiful dress I've ever worn, thank you._

He could see that she was typing something else, and soon enough another bubble appeared.

 _Message: I'm really tired so I'm about to go to sleep but I just wanna let you know one last time that I'm really glad I said all of that today. I don't think I would have been able to say it to anyone other than you. Goodnight._

Once again, another heart at the end of her message, except this time it was red.

Hikaru quickly typed a goodnight text back before locking his phone and placing it back on his side table.

This was going to be the happiest chapter of his life.

* * *

A:N: So, IM BACK. School kicked my ass but I'm still alive. My laptop died (rip). I'm back now though so that's all that really matters.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed! It's so crazy how many people are actually into this and considering that all that 13 year old me ever wanted was for one of her fics to have 50 favorites, I'm ecstatic right now.

I have the next chapter written, but looking over it I can't say I really like what I wrote so I'm going to have to rewrite it but here are a couple of things to look forward to if you would stay with me: the cruise chapters (maybe 1-2 featuring relationship development), a meet-the-family chapter, the halloween party chapter, ice skating and more (if I could just get it all typed up lmao)

Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with me on this. You guys will never understand just how much I truly appreciate all of the support.

See ya next time :)


	21. Chapter 21

Why Me?

Chapter Twenty One

"Hikaru, you must be out of your mind if you think that I'm going to get on that boat."

Melanie stood completely still on the dock, watching as the rest of the host club pulled their suitcases down the wooden pathway that led up to the enormous boat that Mori's grandfather owned. Hikaru stopped walking as soon as he heard her complaint, groaning loudly while he turned around to face her.

"C'mon Mel, we're already here and besides, I promised you that nothing would happen, okay?" He replied, waiting for her to sway her opinion but still seeming unconvinced.

"Can't I just stay in one of the hotels around here? One of the ones on land?"

"You would still have to get on the boat to play the piano, not to mention that there is absolutely no way that Tamaki will let you stay here by yourself when we actually go to Hunny's family beach a few miles away from here." He argued, bringing up some good points as she groaned and then continued pulling her stuff down the ramp. Hikaru caught up to her quickly, using his free hand to hold on to hers and lace their fingers together. Melanie was briefly caught off guard, their relationship still being so new to her that sometimes she couldn't even believe that it was actually real.

Once they actually got on the boat, a feat that took much coaxing from her friends to accomplish, Melanie waited patiently next to Haruhi while the others started to draw straws to decide who would get what room, and as luck would have it she happened to have the room closest to all the guests, which meant that she was going to be dealing with a lot of midnight rampages from girls who were determined to find the bedrooms of their favorite hosts.

 _Lucky me._

"What room are you in?" Hikaru asked, picking up Melanie's bag for her before she could say anything.

"239. It's probably a good thing that I got the one closest to the girls, I'll be able to give you guys a heads up when they inevitably plan on finding your rooms tonight." She answered, smiling at the way Hikaru rolled his eyes. He had already given her an earful over text the night before about how he would be willing to swan dive into the sea if they found his room at any time during the trip, but teasing him about it was too fun to pass up.

"The rest of us are on the other side of the boat, do you want to switch with someone so you won't be by yourself?"

"No, I think I'll be fine by myself. It'll give me some space to get some reading done while we're here." She replied, starting to walk towards the long, luxurious hallway where her room was located. Hikaru dragged along behind her, but even she could feel how nervous he was knowing that he was walking towards an entire section just full of girls that had already tried to rip him limb from limb before.

"Okay, but what if some guy tries to kidnap you and none of us are around to save you?" He was trying to pass it off as a joke but there was a sort of tension to his words that Melanie was surprised to hear.

"I really doubt that will happen Hikaru." She promised, looking over and giving him a reassuring smile before stopping in front of her room. She stuck the key into the door handle, opening it and then making her way into her cozy room. It had a large wooden-framed bed that was sitting in front of the wall-to-wall windows that allowed a remarkable amount of light to fall into the room. There was her own bathroom and a little bookshelf sitting in the corner next to the sofa, perfect for what she considered her ideal book reading vacation.

Hikaru dropped her bag on her bed and moved over to the window, looking out at the dark blue water as it hit the sides of the ship below them.

"Are you _sure_ you're going to be okay by yourself? I know how much water worries you," He repeated, turning away from the window and looking back at Melanie as she unzipped her suitcase and started putting her clothes away.

"I'm going to be fine, besides, if something _does_ happen, you already promised that you would save me so I think I have a pretty good back up plan." She laughed, looking up as Hikaru got onto her bed and letting the corners of her mouth slowly rise up when she saw him grin back at her.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Hikaru just watching Melanie as she continued to put her dresses up on hangers and one-by-one started finishing up, leaving out only a swimsuit and the dress that she was going to wear.

"Hikaru, do you mind leaving so I can change?" She asked.

"Yea, do you want me to drop by again when we get there so we can walk out together?" He replied, pushing himself off of the bed and walking towards the door, but lingering near it while he waited for her.

"You can go ahead, I have some homework I still need to get done and I don't want to make you wait." She answered, meeting him by the door frame. Hikaru's face scrunched up at the sound of homework.

"C'mon Mel, this is an all expenses paid trip, can't homework wait?" He put an arm around her neck in an effort to be playful, but she just laughed under her breath.

"I wish it could wait. I know the second that I leave this room, I'm not going to be productive for the rest of the day." She couldn't help but grin a little at the way Hikaru stuck his tongue out at her, taking his arm back and using it to open the door. "But I promise that if I'm not done within the next two hours, I'll see you out there."

" _Well,_ if you _promise_ then I guess I'll just have to wait a little bit longer then." He replied, laying a quick kiss on Melanie's forehead before stepping out of the room and walking away.

When Melanie stepped off of the boat later, a copy of her statistics book in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, the very first thing she saw was all of the hosts lined up and holding water guns, with the exception of Tamaki, who was pacing himself in front of them. Surrounding them were all of the guests who had come, each of them looking at the group of guys with such a wide eyes that if Melanie didn't know better, she would have assumed that they had never met them before.

She walked over to the nearest umbrella and took off her dress, revealing her baby blue bikini underneath, and slowly lowered herself to the ground, sitting on the already laid out blanket. She didn't open her book just yet, instead peeking over at the debacle happening a couple of feet in front of her.

The group had split into three teams, with Kyoya standing out on the sidelines holding onto his notebook as per usual. The girls that were seated around them had started to scatter, probably due to the fact that Kyoya had a whistle in his mouth, and as soon as Tamaki finished yelling the rules, he blew it.

Immediately all of the hosts ran in opposing directions, Mori and Hunny ran back near the boat which was a relatively smart hiding spot considering that no one could sneak up on you near the dock. Tamaki and Haruhi had bolted into the exact opposite direction, running closer towards the restaurant area before disappearing around the corner.

The twins on the other hand had completely disappeared.

Or so she thought they had until she heard someone call out her name from the trees behind her.

" _Melanie! Psst! Turn around!"_

When she did, sitting there were the twins, both of them crouched down in between the bushes and holding their water guns tight to their chest.

"Hikaru? Kaoru?"

" _Shh... don't give us away!_ " They whispered again, Kaoru poking his head out from the bushes to see if the coast was clear or not. Melanie nodded her head before replying.

"So what do you guys want from me?"

"Do you know where Tamaki and Haruhi went? I think they'll be the easiest to get." Hikaru asked. Melanie couldn't help but note how excited he looked in that moment, his eyes were glimmering to the point that it almost seemed like they were glowing and his skin looked a little bronze from being outside for a while. It was a good look for him.

"I saw them rush over to the little eating area." She answered. The twins immediately stood up, Hikaru bending down to place a quick kiss on Melanie's cheek before thanking her and running away. It was a cute gesture, and she was happy to see him running around being mischievous with Kaoru again, she felt like that had been something that he was missing in his life lately.

About another half an hour had gone by before the twins finally emerged from the dock, drenched in water and being followed by none other than Hunny and Mori, the former sitting on the latter's arms and cheering loudly while all the clients clapped simultaneously. Hikaru looked over in Mel's direction and shook his soaked hair like a shaggy dog, gaining a laugh from her and then running a hand through it to push it back into place. She picked up a cold water bottle and held it up in the air as a thankful Hikaru lightly jogged over to her.

"It sucks that you managed to get annihilated by Hunny, but you're still a winner in my heart." Melanie giggled as she passed him the water bottle. He let out a dry, sarcastic laugh before sitting down next to her and opening it up.

"I'd like to see you compete against any of these guys, they're getting more and more ridiculous with these competitions every time." Hikaru replied, taking a sip of the water and then looking over to Mel. In moments like these, calling her adorable wasn't the right word choice at all. She was laid back, relaxed, her hair was half up into a bun and her skin had the slightest bit of a tan starting to form on her legs from where they were peaking out into the sun. She was _gorgeous_ was more like it.

"If it comes up, maybe I will take you up on that offer. I doubt Tamaki or Hunny would work nearly as hard to get me out as they do you." Melanie answered, leaning her head on Hikaru's left shoulder and watching as Hunny, Mori, and Kaoru were playing a game in the water with some of the guests. "They look like they're having fun."

Hikaru took notice of the solemn way the words came out of her mouth, not really sounding as if she was having an ideal time sitting down by herself while everyone else was enjoying themselves.

"Something tells me you're not having a lot of fun reading- what is it this time, _The Last Song?_ " He asked.

"Actually it's _Statistics for Beginners_." She replied, pointing at the title of her heavily notated book before shutting it completely and groaning loudly.

"That's almost worse." He joked, setting his water bottle down. Melanie was slightly startled when she felt him start to get up, lifting her head back off of his shoulder and waiting for him to say something. "I think you should come into the water with me."

"Hikaru, _please_ don't-"

"You didn't let me finish. I already promised you that I would never let you drown and I didn't do it last time so I think you should give it a chance again now." He explained, holding a hand out to Mel while he waited for her to take it. She seemed rightfully concerned, it's not that she didn't trust him, but it was more like she didn't trust the water itself. Eventually she sighed slightly, taking Hikaru's hand and feeling him lift her off of the ground. Immediately a smile crossed his face and he laced his fingers in with her's once again, leading her towards the ocean.

"So what exactly are we gonna do once we're in the water?" Melanie asked, feeling her toes sink into the hot sand and making it harder to keep up with Hikaru's pace.

"I'm sure we'll come up with something-" Hikaru started, making his first steps into the ocean water before he heard someone call out his name.

"Oh _Hikaru!_ "

Both Hikaru and Melanie focused their attention to Kaoru who was walking towards them with Hunny on his shoulders.

"Kaoru, what... are you doing?" Melanie asked, curious as to what was about to happen.

"Well, I just noticed that you two were about to go into the water so I figured this would be a good time to have some friendly sibling rivalry, don't you think?" Kaoru was up to something mischievous, it was written in the way his voice was borderline singing each of his sentences and the way that he was carrying himself so nonchalantly. It was telling signs that he was ready to stir up some trouble.

"And so what do you suggest we do?" Hikaru questioned him cautiously, still not sure as to why Hunny was sitting on top of his shoulders, smiling happily as if he _didn't_ know what was going on.

"I'm thinking we should play chicken." Kaoru answered while Hunny started clapping his hands ecstatically on top.

"Doesn't that sound fun, Hika-chan?" Hunny remarked, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Not particularly, I just want to spend time with-"

"Sounds to me like you're just scared Hunny and I can beat you and Mel." Kaoru cut him off.

You could almost hear the gears in Hikaru's head turning as the words left Kaoru's mouth. If there was anything that Hikaru couldn't resist, it was a challenge, and Melanie had been dragged into something that clearly wasn't an exception.

"Of course you can't. I have a _volleyball_ champion on my team. Do you really think I'm scared of you?" He quickly cast a glance at Melanie, it was his way of asking her to help him out without having to beg for it in front of his brother, and while she didn't know if she necessarily wanted to be caught up in their little feud, she figured that this would be a good way to spend time with Hikaru and nodded anyway.

"Fair enough, let's get to it then." Kaoru replied.

Hikaru turned towards Mel, pulling her off to the side and glancing over his back for a moment to make sure Kaoru wasn't close enough to hear.

"Alright, first of all, you're the best for agreeing to this." Hikaru thanked her. Melanie smiled widely in return, her stomach was still doing somersaults at the way his face would light up when he spoke to her. "Second of all, there is no way Hunny is going to push you off my back, Kaoru is insane for thinking any guy here would do that so don't you even worry about landing into the water, okay?"

She nodded again, feeling more reassured at the statement. Hikaru gave her one last pat on the back before turning around and squatting so that his neck was about Melanie's waist level. She climbed on carefully, only to almost fall off when Hikaru stood up and she wasn't holding on tightly.

"Hikaru, are you sure I'm not going to fall off?" She asked hesitantly, leaning over slightly to look at his face. His eyes looked up and met her gaze, shaking his head vigorously.

"If you fall off even once, I promise that I will owe you big time."

"I'll keep that in mind then." She replied, only to be startled again when Hikaru started moving underneath. She gripped on to him as tightly as she could, even digging her fingers into his shoulders subconsciously. Hikaru ignored the light stinging feeling that he got from her nails, but he would rather have her feel safe on his shoulders and he have a scratch than she be nervous the entire time.

"Are you guys ready to start? I promise I will go easy on you, Mel-chan." Hunny called over from his spot on top of Kaoru. His little face had tanned quickly, showcasing some of the freckles that dotted his button nose and cheeks. In that moment, as he sat on Kaoru's shoulders and smiled goofy in that way only a whimsical little kid could, Melanie really felt a sort of sentiment towards Hunny that she never really acknowledged before.

Hikaru stopped moving when he was mere inches away from Kaoru, definitely close enough for Melanie to reach out and touch Hunny when the moment came.

"Alright Mel, we got this, okay?" Hikaru encouraged her. Melanie lightly tapped the side of his cheek to show her appreciation and he in return strengthened his grip around her ankles.

"Okay then! So let's start!" Hunny shouted as he immediately grabbed on to her and started wrestling aggressively.

 _Holy shit. He is stronger than I thought._

Melanie struggled to even move Hunny an inch as he played with her like she was a batch of play doh, easily malleable and weak. When she tried to take a hold of his forearm, she was surprised to feel that his arms were rock solid, they didn't dent at all and they definitely didn't react to her trying to move him.

"Hikaru, we've made a mistake."

"Don't say that! We have to beat Kaoru!" He exclaimed, making eye contact with his brother who he could tell was just laughing on the inside, the way his lips were curled up into a grinch-like smile almost made him want to punch Kaoru himself. He let go of Melanie's right leg and reached out to Kaoru, attempting to pry off one of his hands from Hunny's legs, while Kaoru tried to pry of his other hand from Melanie's leg.

"Yea, but I don't think we can beat Hunny." She replied as Hunny finally took a hold of her shoulders, pushing her back far enough that she started to lose her grip on Hikaru, but when he saw the fear that was in her eyes as she began to lose her balance, he stopped and pulled her back up again. Melanie's expression was blank, surprised, but more than thankful that her life had been spared.

"You know I would never push you into the water, Mel-chan." He said sweetly as he let go. She felt Hikaru and Kaoru still struggling underneath them as her and Hunny stopped, and then next thing she knew, Hunny was flying off of Kaoru's shoulders.

" _You_ know _she can't swim and you almost pushed her off his shoulders! Are you crazy!"_ Tamaki yelled at the group as he sat there, perched on top of Kyoya's shoulders. Both Melanie and Hikaru froze, and one stare at the shadow king gave them all the information they needed about how Kyoya felt about the situation.

He was less than pleased.

"Awww, c'mon boss! That isn't fair-" Kaoru started complaining, only to have Tamaki push him over too.

" _Did I stutter, you evil little_ _aubergine_ _!"_ He shouted again. Melanie was startled to hear his french come out like that, it wasn't often that he insulted one of the members in another language.

Especially not calling them an _eggplant._

His hands quickly wrapped around Melanie's shoulders, shaking her back and forth even more vigorously than even Hunny did.

"Are you alright?!" He asked. He was obviously being over dramatic, even to the point where _she_ had to roll her eyes a little bit.

"Yes Tamaki, I am fine." Her voice was monotone, wanting to get it all over with as soon as possible. It really did kind of bother her that this habit of stopping her when she got too close to "danger" was getting overbearing.

"Are you sure-"

" _Yes_ I am sure." She cut him off. To say that she felt sour about this whole experience to the point where she didn't even attempt to fake a smile was an understatement. He continued to stutter, but Hikaru started moving away slowly, foot by foot, in an attempt to start making an escape.

"Where are you guys going?" Tamaki asked as the two continued to walk away.

"We're just gonna do some stuff." Hikaru replied nonchalantly, still not looking back while he walked away. Melanie on the other hand quickly glanced over her shoulder, only to see a soaked Kaoru and Hunny sitting in the water looking at them with grins on their faces, while Tamaki's face went a deep shade of beet red.

" _That better not be code for anything!_ " Tamaki screamed at them. Had it not been for the fact that he was on Kyoya's back, he may have even run after them, but considering the grip that he had on his legs, it was a safe bet that it was more like Kyoya wouldn't _let_ him leave.

Hikaru and Melanie made their way over to the edge of the forest, where Hikaru slowly helped Melanie get off of his shoulders. He loosely put on his button up while she slipped her dress back on her body, then the both of them walked right into the thick set of trees and fauna.

The walk was relatively quiet for the first few minutes, Hikaru not knowing what to say and Melanie seemingly preoccupied by her own thoughts. Every once in a while he tried to start up a conversation, only to have his attempts dwindle back into nothingness as Melanie gave back lack luster responses.

"Mel?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yea."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at her less than convincing response and then stopped walking, which Melanie didn't even take notice of until she was already a few feet ahead. The spot that they were at was incredibly secluded in a particularly thick set of bushes, with a few whispers of light floating down through the tall trees that towered above them. If there was ever a spot where they would have privacy to talk about something that's bothering them, then this would be it.

"There is definitely something bothering you right now." Hikaru finally said when she looked back at him. Her expression didn't change, she still looked bothered, and her eyebrows were furrowed just in the slightest bit, but the concern that Hikaru showed for her was touching.

"Is it really that obvious?" She asked, turning on the heel of her foot and walking back over to Hikaru. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug while she just stood there, arms limp by her side.

Hikaru didn't reply, just standing there in silence while he waited for her to be ready to open up about what she was feeling, and although it took a while, she eventually caved in.

"It really kind of bothers me that Tamaki is treating my like a child," She started, not lifting her head up.

"Are you talking about what just happened?"

Melanie shook her head, finally lifting it up and looking at Hikaru face to face.

"Not just that, it's what _keeps_ happening. It's like he thinks I can't handle things for myself and always need someone to come in and save me. I'm almost eighteen, Hikaru. Don't you think I should be able to make decisions by myself? Shouldn't I be able to decide if I want to play chicken in the water with Hunny or consent to anything I want to do when it's just me and you?" She replied again, her voice was so stern and serious and her body was tense. This was one of the rare situations where Melanie really, truly felt upset, bordering angry. "If I would have fallen, you would have helped me back up like you promised, I know Tamaki's heart is in the right place but I had full trust in you."

Hikaru was silent. In a sort of selfish way, it felt _really_ good to have her on his side, to know that he had gained 100 percent of her trust, but in another way, he felt guilty that she was being babied, and he hoped that she didn't think he was contributing to that too.

"I think you should talk to him. I know Tamaki is stubborn but if you just tell him what's on your mind then maybe he would stop." He finally answered, though it didn't seem to be the answer she wanted.

"I don't want to make him feel bad." She said, digging her feet into the sand and continuing to stare at the ground. "Tamaki has been so nice and supportive to me, the last thing I would want for him to think is that I don't appreciate it. I just want him to ease up on the idea that I am a child."

"Do you want me to mention it?"

"No, he'll probably just get angry at you." She answered, lifting her head up and looking him in the face. On certain days, Hikaru seemed more boyish than manly, something about the way he carries himself or the way he acts, and that day was no exception.

Hikaru looked over towards a spot on the ground, it was secluded between two large bushes and had a soft patch of grass growing. It was just large enough for the both of them to lay down and take a break from walking so he didn't waste time laying down on top of it. The feel of the lush grass felt good against his back and there was the tiniest sliver of sunlight that graced his forehead. It felt _great_ , especially after Melanie finally laid down next to him.

"I honestly just think you should mention it to him. If it makes you miserable then Tamaki would rather cut his own leg off than continue to do it." Hikaru muttered, closing his eyes and sinking deeper into his relaxed state.

"Yea, you're right." She finally answered, releasing a deep breath and staring up into the mosaic of trees above her. The duo sat in silence for a couple of minutes, the wind blew through the forest and created a pleasant array of white noise when mixed in with the exotic chirping of the birds.

Finally, Melanie broke the silence again.

"My mom has been acting _really_ weird lately." She said, turning over onto her side so that she was facing Hikaru. He lazily looked over at her, his eyes half closed and she could tell that he was barely conscious. A part of her almost felt bad for waking him up. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, his little button nose whistled slightly with every breath he took and his mouth was just slightly parted.

"Hmm?" He mumbled, just barely opening his eyes as he looked at her.

"Well, she has been on the phone a lot, talking to apparently some really important people because she keeps talking about some opportunity. Whenever I ask her about it she'll just deflect the question and ask me how I feel about some people we go to school with." She continued explaining. Hikaru seemed a little more alert at her statement, part of it starting to ring a bell.

"Like who?"

"Eitaro Nakamoto and Daisuke Watashi? I barely know anything about either of them but the other day she mentioned Kai Minami and I thought I was going to have to lose my mind talking about him." Melanie replied non-chalantly, only to go wide eyed as Hikaru lurched up.

" _What!"_

Melanie looked utterly confused, her face slowly started to get paler as she began to worry.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. Hikaru could only barely think as his mind flash backed to what Kaoru told him those few weeks back.

"Mel, do you _realize_ that your mother is trying to plan a marriage for you?"

"How could you _possibly_ assume that is what's happening?" She could feel her eyebrows raising intensely. It's not that she meant to do it but the notion that her mother was going to put her through that was ridiculous.

"A few weeks ago, Kaoru overheard my parents talking about this. There is an actual bidding war happening between these families so their sons can marry you!"

Silence fell upon the two as Melanie let the statement sink in. A marriage? An _arranged_ marriage? For her?

All she could do was groan as her back hit the grass again and she covered up her face.

" _Shit_ , I should have known she would do this." She mumbled into her palms, rubbing her eyes until she started to see colors.

The statement did nothing to help calm Hikaru's nerves, but when Melanie peeked through her fingers and saw the worry on his face, she knew she had to say something.

"I'd rather change my name and start a new life as an Icelandic sheep herder than get married to Kai, I promise I won't let this happen, okay?" She tried her hardest to be encouraging but Hikaru still didn't seem to be convinced.

"But what if your mom makes it happen?" He was frantic, undoubtedly more concerned than even she was herself.

Hikaru felt his hands being cupped as Melanie laced her fingers in with his.

"I want you to promise me that you won't let this get to you. I'm going to talk to my mom about it and let her know that there is no way I'm going through with something like that." She had a very comforting tone to her, as if she truly did believe that everything was going to be okay, and there was nothing to worry about. "Hikaru."

"I'm not going to say it." He shook his head once.

"Please?"

"What is the point in pretending that the idea of this doesn't freak me out?" He exclaimed, his voice was trembling slightly. Melanie tightened her grip on his hands as she leaned forward. Her face was barely a few inches away from his, and as her determined eyes looked right into his he couldn't help but stop worrying, even for a few seconds.

"This relationship means too much for me to just give it up." Melanie's voice was low and serious as she gradually leaned in and lightly touched her lips to Hikaru's. "Have a little faith in me."

There was a solemn moment where neither of them spoke, just stared at each other while they waited.

"Okay, fine. You have everything under control." Hikaru finally caved in, standing up and pulling her up with him.

"I'm glad to hear that." She replied, sliding her hand onto his and leaning into his shoulder as the two stepped back onto the dirt road and began their walk back to the beach.

A:N: I am so relieved to finally be able to say that I am DONE with school again. This was the hardest year ever, very taxing on my health and basically every other aspect of my life, but I'm done and ready for the next chapter of my life.

Besides that, I know I mentioned this last chapter but my laptop died and with it went portions of my story that I didn't think I could get back for a few months which put me in a really bad mood and gave me some really bad writer's block. Finally I found the will to write again (and managed to get some of my files back!) and I know this chapter isn't as good as it could have been but I needed to put it out there to at least motivate myself to get back into the swing of things and enjoy stuff again. I hope you guys find at least a little bit of happiness in reading this long chapter and I hope I can put out some more soon that'll be even better than before. It feels good to be back, and once again, I do hope it's permanent this time.

Hope you guys had a great few months since I last uploaded and that everything is going well, see ya next time :)


	22. Chapter 22

Why Me?

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Melanie? _Helloooooooo_ , wake up."

Her mind seemed to play tricks on her, the sound of Hikaru's voice was so close yet distant enough that it seemed muffled. All she had to do was open her eyes and see if she was hallucinating or not, yet her lids felt so heavy that it seemed almost impossible.

"Please don't make me tell Tamaki that something is wrong."

Never mind.

Her eyes immediately opened and she was wide awake. A little dizzy, but awake.

"I'm coming to the door, give me a second." She replied groggily. A quick glance in the mirror revealed a pale faced girl who was lacking any semblance of color in her cheeks. To say she looked awful was an exaggeration, but she definitely didn't look good either.

She unbolted the door and pulled on the handle, revealing Hikaru standing there on the other side. He was already dressed, wearing another sea blue shirt that had the first few buttons unfastened. Even on his casual days he still looked like he was modeling for Vogue. It made Melanie feel somewhat underwhelming in comparison.

"I would say good afternoon but your face would tell me that that wouldn't be the case." He said. He put his hand up to her forehead, it was a little warm but nothing too concerning to him.

"I'm not feeling so great- wait, did you say afternoon?"

"It's already 1. When you didn't come down to breakfast I figured I would let you sleep in but now I'm starting to see that maybe you should continue resting." Hikaru motioned back towards Melanie's bed, but the sound of her stomach growling didn't allow him to speak again.

"I think I'll grab a little something before I head back to bed," She said, only to have Hikaru block the door.

"Don't even worry, I will go get you something. Just go back to bed and I'll be back in ten minutes, okay?" His words were more of a command than a suggestion, but Melanie felt grateful for it.

"Thanks Hika," She muttered as she crawled back underneath her covers. Hikaru walked up next to her bed and pulled the comforter farther up to make sure she was fully covered, then placed a light kiss on her forehead. On his way out, he grabbed her room key and closed the door lightly.

It took him about fifteen minutes to return, but when he did come back he had much more than soup in hand. Hikaru was holding another pillow, a French textbook, and some pain reliever, which he set down on the bedside table.

"You look like you're about to move in," Melanie managed to muster a bit of a laugh while she sat up in her bed, leaning against her pillows.

"Well, I figured that if you were sick then I would take care of you today. Take a vacation from my vacation, you know?" He answered, plopping the pillow down right next to her. A soft thud could be heard as he laid down next to her.

"You really don't have to do that," She pulled off the lid from her soup and began to eat little by little.

"I want to."

There was silence in the room again, just the sound of Melanie sniffling and Hikaru flipping through the pages of his textbook. It was hardly the most romantic setting to be in, but it was warm and comforting being snuggled up next to Hikaru, especially since he didn't have to be there.

"Hika, tell me something."

"Like what?"

"Anything. It can be funny, sad, interesting." Melanie flipped herself over and found herself reaching one of her arms across Hikaru's chest, pulling her body closer to his.

"Did I ever tell you about the moment that I realized I was starting to develop feelings for you?"

She shook her head.

"Do you remember that dream you had a few months ago?"

Melanie felt her face flush at the reminder of her three imaginary kids jumping on her bed. If she had forgotten it then she sure wasn't going to forget it again.

"I know you remember it, you wouldn't forget something like that." He laughed lightly to himself. It was the sort of innocent, yet honest laugh that Melanie loved about him, the one that he only brought out for her and her antics, from the part of him that he didn't just let anybody see. "But anyway, I remember standing there with you behind the building of the charity auction, it was kind of cold that night and I had been worried for days that you were ignoring me because of something I had done, and you specifically told me not to laugh or be angry when you told me your dream."

"Which you did anyway." She mumbled into his skin, but couldn't help cracking a smile at how silly it sounded.

"Yea, but the moment you told me and I just couldn't stop laughing? That was the second I first started to think that I might have had it bad." Hikaru couldn't stop the smile that was forming on his face as he remembered every single last emotion come back and hit him at once. "You were wearing this really dark burgundy dress-"

"I knew it was your favorite color."

The words caused Hikaru to cease momentarily. Whatever reaction he had on her when he said things like that was nothing compared to what she did to him.

"and I just remember looking at it, and then back at your face while you pretended to be upset with me and thinking that I was losing my mind. Every time you had something funny to say, or you smiled at me when I teased you, or you laughed- oh God, you don't even know the things that your laugh does to me- I felt all of that come back and hit me at the same time." He finished, tightening his grip on Melanie a little harder, and pulling her in a little closer to him. They sat in silence for a couple of seconds, nothing too long that it was awkward, but also short enough that Melanie took a moment to reflect on what Hikaru had told her.

"Do you wanna know the moment I _really_ realized I had it bad?" Melanie started, not moving her head from Hikaru's shoulder. He nodded his head.

"I would love to know what moment you finally realized that the most handsome, funny guy who was perfect for you was right in front of you all along."

She playfully couldn't resist rolling her eyes at the statement, but glanced in his direction with a look that let him know that she wasn't going to deny that.

"You remember when we first tried on the dress and you ended up getting the sewing kit to fix the lace?" Melanie asked, waiting until Hikaru acknowledged it before she proceeded. "Well, while you were gone, Kaoru asked me if I liked you."

Hikaru groaned loudly at the sound of his brother's meddling.

"What did you say?" He was curious about the answer, even if he disapproved of Kaoru sticking his head in his business.

"I said that I felt like a different person around you. I'm happier when we're together and you make me nervous just by smiling but-" She stopped for a moment before continuing. "it was really hard for me to accept because if you didn't feel the same way I would have been completely distraught."

He understood her fear completely, just two months ago he would lie in bed thinking the same thing.

"But as soon as I said it all, I knew that there was really something there. I was completely and irrevocably into you and there was no turning back, no matter how much I may have wanted to."

Hikaru couldn't help but laugh a little bit at that last part, making it seem like she was stuck and there was nothing else she could do but accept it.

"So we both had similar experiences. It just kind of hit us and we realized that we were doomed." He added, finally it was Melanie's turn to giggle.

"Yep, there was no turning back whatsoever."

"Great, I'm glad we're in this together."

There was a brief lapse in speaking. The sound of the ocean waves crashing against the side of the ship was the only noise to be heard, with the exception of the occasional seagulls.

Suddenly, Hikaru let out a loud yawn.

"I guess you're tired?"

"Well I've been up since five so I think I could go for a nap." He replied, turning over so that he was facing Melanie's body and wrapping his arms around her waist. It took her a moment to realize that he was trying to cuddle with her, a surprisingly affectionate sign from someone who otherwise never has his guard down.

She managed to snuggle up closer to him, feeling his arm tighten a little and his head touch the crook of her neck. Within a few minutes, he was already snoring lightly and Melanie was too.

When Melanie woke up, the sun was glaring brightly through the window, casting a soft glow over the bedroom. She reached over onto the side table and put on her glasses, briefly glancing at the clock on the wall opposite of her. It was almost four already and the small amount of soup she had eaten wasn't going to hold her over much longer. On the bright side, she did feel a lot better.

She turned over and looked at Hikaru's sleeping face. His chest was rising lightly and his mouth was slightly parted as he breathed. The sun was illuminating his face in a way that made his tanned skin almost seem radiant.

 _He's gorgeous._

The thought made Melanie's lips pull back into a smile. Her cute boyfriend and her just shared a nap. It was such a small and basic milestone but she couldn't help and get giddy over it.

A loud growl released from her stomach. So maybe saying that the soup wasn't holding her over very much longer was an understatement.

"You sound hungry." Hikaru's eyes were still shut as the words left his lips, giving Melanie a temporary heart attack.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I just had my eyes closed, I've been awake for a while now." He replied, opening up one of his eyes and staring right at her. When the sun hit them, his amber orbs looked like they were _actually_ glowing. They looked like he actually had the sun in his eyes and his rays were shining on everything he stared at. "Feeling better?"

Melanie nodded.

"Wanna go into the city and walk around a bit? Do some sight seeing?"

Mel looked in the mirror and saw her hair sticking up in four different directions, her glasses barely hanging onto her face and she was still wearing her pajamas. She then turned back towards Hikaru.

"I'm gonna need an hour to get ready."

"Fair enough, take your time babe. I'll just go back to sleeping." Hikaru replied before closing his eyes again and putting the blanket over his face. Melanie giggled at the gesture before reaching into her dresser and pulling out a pair of shorts.

* * *

"You know, times like these I really wish I would have paid more attention in English." Hikaru said the moment the couple stepped on to a busy city street. It was definitely bustling, the energy that radiated from the people moving up and down the side walk was borderline chaotic. Everyone had somewhere to go and wasn't going to let anyone stop them.

The shops were all colorful with neon signs flashing in their windows, letting consumers know that they were indeed open. Music was playing, Melanie didn't know where it was coming from but it was lively and energetic, reminding her of the time she danced in that bar a couple months ago.

"You can't read very much, can you?" Melanie asked as she pulled Hikaru down the sidewalk. He had much more of a relaxed stride than she did, a parallel to their general demeanors. In this fast paced city though, it was impossible to get away with that.

"I have no clue what any of this says," He pointed at a huge red OPEN sign that was brightly shining through the glass pane. As she translated for him, he would try to pronounce the English words as best as he can, just to garner a laugh from his partner.

"I'm glad you find this funny, we can't all be bilingual like you Mel." He pretended to be annoyed.

"I'm just teasing, Hun. You'll get better, don't worry." She reassured, only to have her attention be taken away by a passing jewelry store. In the display case was a huge diamond ring that was embezzled with multiple smaller diamond in two circles around it. While it was too flashy for her taste and could blind someone if the light hit it at the right angle, what really caught her eye was the price tag.

" _Hikaru_ , I know this probably doesn't stun you at all but this ring is almost 8,500,000 yen! For a _ring!_ "

"Eh, that's not that expensive," Hikaru nonchalantly replied, not fazed at all. "and it's tacky."

Melanie's jaw dropped straight to the ground.

"How can you even call a ring this expensive tacky? You're basically walking around with half a diamond mine on your finger." She almost couldn't comprehend the idea that Hikaru was rich enough to call things that she considered high end _tacky_.

"That's an exaggeration." He rubbed Melanie's back as she stood there, shook to her core at the very thought. He caught a glance at another ring a few feet away and pulled her towards it. It was a lot less embellished than the last one was with a simple gold band and three clear diamonds resting on top of it in a straight line. "This is the ring that my dad bought my mom this year for their anniversary. See how tasteful it is? Just simple and elegant and it can go with anything. A common mishap that men forget when they buy engagement rings is that trends are temporary, but classic lasts forever."

Melanie's eyes got even wider as she stared at the price tag.

"How is that ring almost 150 million yen!" She exclaimed, feeling like she might have to pass out at the sight of it.

"There is a lot that goes into the process of it, I promise." Hikaru started to explain, but soon managed to glimpse at some dresses that were in the store and began to walk towards them. "Come with me, I have a surprise for you."

The couple quietly walked into the bustling store, every corner inhabited by a wide range of people. Men who were obviously going engagement ring shopping, and women who were subtly suggesting to their boyfriends that they _wanted_ to go engagement ring shopping. For a young relationship like the one Melanie shared with Hikaru, she merrily went along her way, unbothered by the symbols of a lifetime of commitment.

"What is it that you want to show me Hika?" Melanie continued to follow her quick-footed boyfriend as he weaved his way through plenty of flashy ball gowns and subdued business skirts. She only received a slight squeeze of the hand as a reply. Finally, they reached a section of the store that was filled to the brim with dresses and suits of many different sizes and colors, ranging from extravagant fuchsia to more mellow olives. They were all hanging neatly in rows that led up to a wall. Hanging there was a enormous sign that he one very simple word imprinted on it.

"Hitachiin?" Hikaru could hear Melanie whisper under her breath as she started to decipher the sight ahead of them.

"Mmm hmm." He replied, walking over to one of the mannequins who was displaying a fun, almost pastel periwinkle blazer. "I kept my promise."

"Your promise…?" She slowly let the words leave her lips as it fully dawned on her just what Hikaru was talking about. "Is this the affordable brand you said you would make?"

"It sure is. All inspired by you so now everyone can wear Hitachiin." He replied. He had a childish grin plastered all over his face, one that was too cute for her to just not want to take in.

"Hikaru… this is amazing that you really did this." Melanie began her sentence but quickly trailed off as she pulled a blush colored top off of a nearby rack. "It is so cool that people like me are now able to wear clothes that really have value to them. It may not really seem like a big deal for you, but to a commoner this could be a matter of self confidence."

"That's where you're wrong though. It _is_ important to me. It was important to you and I'm just glad that I could at least kind of help with that." Melanie paced her way up to him, using her finger to motion that he should get closer. Hikaru was more than happy to oblige.

"You know, sometimes you really are amazing." She cocked her head barely to the right, gazing into his eyes. Not even giving him the chance to reply, she took the opportunity to softly kiss him before enveloping him in a hug. As she felt his arms wrap themselves around her back, she thought to herself about the personal change he had gone through in the time she had known him. It was obvious that he was really putting an effort in to try and be even a little bit more selfless, and she could tell that even before now, people were starting to notice the better side of him.

Melanie didn't say anything more after the two let go of each other. She was just too busy looking at all of the gorgeous designs ahead of her.

"Is there anything you would like to try on?" He asked, only to be cut off by the very loud sound of Melanie's stomach rumbling. She peeked surprisingly down at the source of the noise.

"While I would love to, I really would like to get some dinner first. I really do love this though Hikaru. I can really tell that you cared about something I had to say and that means a lot to me." She replied. Hikaru beamed down at her, slipping the fingers of one of his hands through Melanie's own again.

"Of course, anything for you."

The color started racing through Melanie's cheeks again at the look on Hikaru's face. It was full of wonder and kindness and a little bit of mischief again, but it was all because of her. Nobody else.

Her adoration for him was infinite.

"Now, let's go get some food then."

Melanie happily bopped her head to the suggestion, this time she was the one to pull him out of the door and back onto the street.

* * *

A:N: I'm not even gonna acknowledge the gaps in updates because at this point even I'm sick of it.

I recently got reenergized in terms of getting over writer's block by watching an old anime that l used to really love (that isn't OHSHC) and funny enough, I got very excited to write again and just pushed myself through it. On a side note, I love the idea of Melanie calling Hikaru "Hika". That is some cute shit right there so expect more of it in future chapters.

I started writing the date chapter and if I really go all the way through with this then boy oh boy it will probably be one of my favorites. I reread this entire story to try to remember what was going on and I'm completely ready to fully dive into the ups (and probably downs) of these two dating.

So yea, it is pretty late at night here but I'm still gonna go ahead and keep writing while I'm feeling that energy. I hope all of you guys are doing well and thank you for reading and reviewing still. I think people underestimate the weight that reviews have on authors but I promise, even when I feel down about writing or am bummed that I can't put anything out for one reason or another, I still will check to see if any new reviews are up and I appreciate every single last one of them.

Thanks again and I'll see you guys next time :)


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